


Tango for Two

by aceofhearts88



Category: Dalton Academy Series, Glee
Genre: Charlie Amos - Freeform, F/M, John Wright - Freeform, M/M, Marcus Holland, OC's - Freeform, Sidney Willis, Spencer Willis - Freeform, long oh it's gonna be long, slow build Dasey, slow build Wilcroft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-11-11
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-02-24 23:27:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 71,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2600282
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceofhearts88/pseuds/aceofhearts88
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Starts off after Hell Night, to be more detailed, starts off from the beginning of the hospital scene, an alternate take on how the Stuart Trio and some other Dalton characters deal with the aftermath of the biggest catasstrophe Dalton had ever seen.</p><p>How will Julian and Logan go on now? What is Derek cooking up with John Wright? What is going on with Justin Bancroft? And why is Dwight so sad?</p><p>Click in and find out in given time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The prize you have to pay

If he had to put a word on it, or give a somehow formidable explanation than it would probably be: Logan loses it, but in the most controlled way it had ever happened, he took two steps away from Julians bed, tired green eyes locking away the agony again and making a spin in the complete other way, fire flaming up in them and not of the good kind, quite on the contrary. He was exhausted, but still, he braced his shoulders, straightened his back and took a deep breath, eyes closing for just that split of a second it took him to call up the last energy resources he had, throwing everything into brewing up the storm he wanted then. Logans eyes flashed open again, and if it wasn`t for the way Derek flinched so heavily at his side, Kurt would have probably missed the intensity of those green orbs, but like that, he did, and it was as if there was barely anything left in him beside the anger, there wasn`t the crushed boy anymore that had broken down in Kurts arm just hours ago. This boy was a different person, this was the unpredictable boy, who had thrown Blaine through double doors. The monster that everyone but the sleeping actor feared, it reared its ugly head and got ready to roar, and it would hit its target, there was no doubt about it, and all three Dalton boys knew who would be the victim of Logans unlimited anger and even though Bailey and Kurt had always wished for peace, this time, even they couldn`t blame him. He had it coming a long time ago and Logan had lost every little respect he might have ever had, time was up. They barely have left Julians room, when the Stuart prefect slammed Clark Sawyer against the closest wall, the sound vibrating from the clinical white walls and even though he was standing right next to them, Cameron Pike was much too stunned too do anything but stare, and across from the door, Julians other colleagues from Something Damaged are blinking, but stay unmoving. Logan seized Clark up, the two of them, being so close to Julian and having never met before, one of the Stuarts hands was clasped around the front of Clarks shirt, pushing him against the wall, he was speaking in such hushed and whispered seething words than none of them understood what was even said, but when he feels like he has gotten his message across, he stormed down the corridor, leaving Clark slumping to the ground and the rest of the Something Damaged cast staring after him. Kurt, Derek and Bailey raced after him, before they got caught in the crossfire.

They take Dereks car, just because it was the biggest, Kurt needed a minute to talk to his father, but even if hesitating Burt agreed to let him go, no matter on whose side it was, he could see the fire burning in his sons eyes and he knew that there was no fighting against him.  
“Just... are you sure this is what you want?”, he had asked, worry so prominent in his eyes, but Kurt had only needed to throw one look from the second story of the hospital to where Logan was glaring at him from inside Dereks car, tapping an impatient finger against the watch on his wrist.  
“Yes, Dad. Dalton is what I want.”, and he let him go, let him race over to the three boys he had until now not called his friends, let him climb into a car with three Stuarts, one of whom had apparently the only idea on how to save their school. Logan was on the phone the second Kurt had closed his door and Derek had steered the car from the parking lot. The prefect was really in his own world, green eyes blazing with fire and something very very dangerous, his hands were slightly shaking from whatever he was holding back, and Kurt wondered how bad this really was, still caught in the memory of Logan breaking down in his arms not an hour ago, but he was on a warpath, and when even Derek didn`t look like he wanted to stop him, then maybe it would turn out to be good, for once, something good. Logan huffed, when his call was finally picked up.  
“Get Blaine, Reed, Houston and yourself into the foyer now. And Charlie and Justin. And send someone out to find every fucking legacy you can possibly find. Every single one!”, there was a slight commotion on the other side of the line and Logan sneered, “I`m not kidding, Eth. Get your butts moving... Stop asking me if I am okay!!”, because he wasn`t, because he wouldn`t, wouldn`t be okay until Julian had finally opened his eyes, until they would finally have had a chance to talk, “What this means?! Seriously?... We are going to save our damn school, now asses in the foyer!”, and then he ended the call, clenching his phone in his hands, blindly staring ahead from the passenger seat. Kurt and Bailey were silent, mutely watching how Derek glanced to his side, feeling as if this was the worst invasion of privacy, because Stuart trio meant three, and they had always been so private, so in tune with each other, and it was hard to even begin to understand what they meant for each other, what they had been through together, what was on the line for them.  
“Lo...”, it was a whisper, but the car was so deadly silent that it didn`t matter, everyone could understand and feel how worried Derek was for his best friends sanity, how desperate he was for Logan to let him in, how much he was clinging to the only person he had right now.  
“No!”, Logan immediately snapped, “Don`t get me down, not right now. We need to save Dalton and then you can shove all the fucking pills down my throat. I`m not going to face my father drugged up, he wants me to take responsibility, good, he is going to see first hand what it means to always take everything away.”, they could already see Dalton in the distance.  
“Jul...”, Logan flinched, Bailey shot a quick look to Kurt, he looked scared, obviously not liking where this was heading in any way, Kurt couldn`t blame him, it looked insane, and the fact that Derek was careful, that Derek of all people was treating Logan with kid gloves and was walking on eggshells around his closest friend was the biggest and most alarming red light Kurt had ever seen in his entire life. Logans response was expectedly heavy.  
“Julian would want me to do exactly this, Derek. He would want me to save Dalton, because he sacrificed himself for us to be safe.”, a moment passed where no one said anything, Kurt could feel Julians fingers on his back again, pushing him to safety, and he was sure that Logan could see him flying towards him again, instead of the boy with the oak brown hair and the famous smile. He was breathing heavily, eyes closed, and Kurt would have wished to be somewhere else, when Derek took one hand from the steering wheel and curled it around Logans left one, squeezing. It was such an unfamiliar gesture that Kurt and Bailey instantly looked away, their eyes falling on their school getting closer, their home that needed to be safe.  
“He`ll wake up.”, Kurt only looked back to the two rival Stuarts, when Derek whispered his promise, once again so quiet, so untypically serene, it was heartbreaking, the hope, the desperation, he sounded as if the belief in Julian waking up was the only think that kept him on his feet. Logan turned his head away, looking out of the window as soon as Derek had spoken, making it impossible for any of them to look at his face.  
“Yeah, and when he does, he needs to have a home.”

They pulled into the courtyard, all of them avoiding to look in the direction of the burned Art Hall, it was really hard, but somehow it even felt like coming home. Logan was the first one out of the car, Derek hurriedly following him, while Bailey helped Kurt from the car, and then they stormed into the entrance hall. They were all waiting, Blaine, Reed and Dwight standing at the side, Shane keeping in the background, Charlie and Justin were standing with the twins, who immediately rushed forward when they entered, latching themselves onto Logan, and Kurt averted his eyes, when he saw Logan closing his. It was crowded with people, every single Dalton and Dobry student with the smallest streak of legacy was waiting for them, the twins had worked in perfection again. He walked over to Blaine, hugging him tight, giving himself just one minute of weakness, before he pulled away again, Wes and David came running down the stairs in that moment, joining them.  
“What happened?”, Blaine wanted to know, looking over to where the twins were still holding onto Logan, seemingly not wanting to let go, Derek was standing next to them, “Did you get to see Julian?”, it was asked with the desperation they all felt, until now they hadn`t none anything and all of them had been making up their own personal nightmare picture of the actor, hooked up to machines, all bandaged up, but Kurt now knew how it really was.  
“Yeah, we did.”, he answered, taking another look towards the twins and Logan.  
“And it`s not good?”, Reed wanted to know with big horrified eyes, Shane took a step closer to him again and placed a strong hand on his shoulder, Kurt quickly continued, relieving them.  
“No, no, it`s... good. He is not critical anymore, but he still hasn`t woken up.”  
“And Logan....?”, Blaine asked him and Kurt answered him with his eyes as best as he could, he didn`t want to placate Logans break down in front of everyone. Across the hall, Logan and the twins broke apart.  
“Okay, where are they?”, Justin and Charlie made a hesitant step closer to him, they seemed wary and Kurt was sure that no one could really blame them, Logan was close to breaking down again, had been since he had lost it in the hospital, and it wasn`t easy to handle him, when he was like that, shown in the way Derek chose to stay close to him, watching over his moves and mood.  
“Dining hall. Logan, what are you...”  
“You`ll see.”, Logan stopped whatever Justin had wanted to ask, he whisked his head around to look at them, “Blaine, you`re with me. The rest waits for us in the dining hall, this school is not going to get closed.”, and the determination in his voice was remarkable, pulling them all in, even if he was a ticking time bomb again, it was his charisma, the rare side of him that he barely showed, the born leader, the boy who could move a huge crowd, just because of how he talked, how he moved, how he looked. He could snap his fingers and get everyone behind him, if he really wanted to and if he could reign in the jackass long enough. Derek leaned in to whisper something to his friend, while Logan still stared at a dumbfounded Blaine, but the prefect swatted him away, Derek scowled, but let it go.  
“What do you want us do to?”, Evan demanded of him, the look of confusion didn`t suit him or his twin and it made Kurt slightly uncomfortable.  
“Stop them, shut them up for five minutes. They are your freaking fathers and not the FBI. This is our school now, not theirs anymore!”, Logan sneered at them, Blaine had slowly walked over to him, having giving one last squeeze to Kurts hand.  
“But your father...”, Ethan couldn`t even finish his sentence, before Logan interrupted again.  
“Let him be my problem.”, his voice, so cold, so narrowed and sharp, completely emotionless, it was a sharp contrast to how he had been in the hospital or in the car, this was a boy who knew what he was up against and who was bracing himself for the first confrontation against his politician father. Ethan and Evan both blinked, Logan send them a very defining look, he knew what he was doing and he knew what was awaiting him, but there was no other option, and so he pulled Blaine towards the offices, and with huge eyes Kurt instantly realized he was taking him to Ramsey.

Logans heart was racing, thumping against his ribs, but he could barely feel anything, back in the car, it had all still been a jumbled mess of emotions, it all hurt, like scorching hot swords being pierced through his body, and the worse thing of it all, he couldn`t stop thinking, couldn`t stop making up possible outcomes in his head. Of Julian not waking up, of him waking up with no memories, of him waking up and not wanting to ever see him again. Of things changing, changing too fast for him to hold onto something. He needed Julian to wake up, he needed to talk to him, to hear, too feel that he hadn`t lost him, because... because he wouldn`t be able to deal with it. With his hand still grabbing onto Blaines sleeve, he briskly walked down the corridor leading to the offices for the administrative organs of Dalton, including Ramseys, and even though the smaller boy had apparently caught onto his target, Logan didn`t let go. He needed to have something to anchor him to his mission.  
“Logan...”  
“Blaine, just... please don`t ask. You know I`m not okay.”, and it was a testament to how much they had been through together that Blaine took a quick look at him, bit his lips, but staid quiet, “I have a plan, alright. You just have to trust me now.”  
“Are you sure you are ready to go against your father?”, the question was carefully placed, Logan chose to look anywhere but the Windsor boy, he knew what a sheer suicide mission it was to go against the senator, but they were both graced with stubborn heads, and what his father could do, he could achieve, too. If John Wright wanted a war over Dalton, he could have one.   
“I am.”, was the only answer he gave Blaine and when he found brown eyes, his own must have shown his determination, and Blaine believed him, pushed away the uncertainty and the fear of losing his home to follow him. It felt good, to have the support, but he was so convinced that it would work, so ready to go all the way, that it could have been done just by himself, “Let`s get this going.”, and not so tenderly, he pushed open the door to Ramseys office and Blaine inside with one stride. 

Kurt helped the twins and the two remaining prefects shuffle everyone into the dining hall, where the imminent fatherly protest was big, but it was Logans karma that floated into their spirits, and Spencer, Derek, Ethan and Evan all screamed at the same time.  
“SHUT UP!”, and it roared from the walls, while the others students filled into the hall, forming a crowed, forming a barrier, a united front.  
“What is going on here?”, not surprisingly, it was the senator that pushed past Paxton Willis and Colin Brightman to demand an explanation, he looked tired and drained, but still highly dangerous and fearless, surprisingly enough, John Wright and his son had probably never looked as similar as on this day, and Reed pushed himself halfway behind him, when those green eyes switched over their faces, settling on the ones he knew best. Ethan, Evan and most importantly, “Derek, what is the meaning of this?”, Derek didn`t even flinch, just took a deep breath, settled on brown eyes on the senator, only shortly daring a look into his own fathers eyes, but Ernest Seigerson looked calm, as if he somehow had expected this intervention to happen.  
“We`re not accepting that Dalton will be closed.”, spoken with the voice he was famous for in the varsity teams he led, patient, calm, collected, but also with finality, easily showing that there was no room for explanation or discussion. Dalton won`t close, and they were standing for it. Justin and Charlie had moved behind him and the twins, and Sidney Willis had walked over to her twin brother.

John Wright, his head turning red and one eye starting to twitch, looked at Derek, as if he didn`t know the boy anymore, Colin Brightman did not leave his side, not to hold him back, but to defend him, because those kids meant business.  
“Where is my son?”, the dreaded question came, spat out, laced with annoyance, and just maybe a little bit of concern of not knowing his sons whereabouts, but the anger overwheiged everything, and Derek launched into the most evasive story he had ever made up, Ethan and Evan jumping in with precious grins, this was their field of expertise, they could shine with that. Just some steps to the side, Kurt slapped Reeds fingers from the smaller boys mouth, where the painter had tried to bite on his nails, his own blood was pumping through his body, heart running a marathon, he prayed that whatever plan Logan had wouldn`t end in disaster.  
“I don`t like this.”, Wes mumbled on his other side, David and Katherine nodded behind him, they were eying Davids father with curious eyes, Wes was looking straight at Derek, who played off his nervousness with an ease that was frightening, but that boy hadn`t been his captain for almost two years for nothing, Wes could see how much this was eating at the Stuart, how much he was begging Logan to hurry up on the inside.

“Bailey, what does Logan have planned?”, on the other side of their crowd, Marcus Holland had glued his eyes to the profile of Stuarts second in command, Dereks right hand was twitching, and he was getting more furious with every passing second, the senator was pushing all the right buttons again, and not too soon he would push too far and Derek would just blow, and then everything would be for nothing. The smaller sophomore made a step closer to where he was standing with Thad and Cyrus, all of them knew how much more dangerous the senator could become, that this was only the beginning of the path down hell, they had seen him at his worst when Logan had gotten expelled.  
“I don`t know.”, Bailey Tipton was biting his lips, trying not to be scared, but it wasn`t easy, John Wright had screamed the whole house down, when he gotten to Dalton, back when the whole war between Logan and Blaine had started, and none of them had left that confrontation without shaking limbs.  
“That`s exactly what I didn`t want to hear.”, Marcus deadpanned, dark eyes frowning, when Dereks whole body twitched once, he prayed it wasn`t what it looked like, that Derek was not planning on assaulting the senator to shut him up, “If he so much as moves a foot forward, we are going to tackle him. We already have one Stuart down, temporarily, we don`t need to add another.”, Thad and Cyrus nodded with grim faces, while Bailey chanced a look up to Marcus face, wondering when they had become a we again, when Stuart had become a united group of boys again, but Marcus was still focused on Derek, “We stand behind Derek, and we stand behind Logan. Make sure everyone knows.”, Thad and Cyrus nodded and within a blink of Baileys eyes, they were gone, rushing around the crowd to fetch every Stuart they had assembled, shaken with confusion and bewilderment, because those boys had never given a rats ass about the Stuart trio before, he stared at Marcus, and the older boy sensed the brown eyes on him, “This is not a peace offering, Tipton. This whole mess happened, because Derek, Julian and Logan were alone, and it stops today. They are Stuarts, and from now on, we`re going to treat them like that again. We stand together.”

Ten minutes later, it was like a rewind of the drama leading to them being banned from performing at the Valentines fair, when the double doors slammed open, crashing to the walls on either side, the thud resounding in the hall and making everyone shut up instantly. All eyes turned to look towards the entrance, where Logan stormed into the room, behind him Blaine and Dean Ramsey shuffled inside. She looked a little bit overwhelmed, but Blaine was grinning, when he hurried over to where Kurt, Reed and Shane were standing with Wes and David. Logan was on fire, storming past Derek and the twins still in the front line, and before Derek even had a chance of realizing what his best friends intention was, Logan had pushed his way towards Senator Wright, grabbed onto his collar and pulled him from his chair, before his fist crashed into the older mans jaw, sending him flying to the ground. Everyone stared, Kurt and Blaine blinked, everything stopped moving for a second, but then Derek and the twins jumped to Logan, to hold him back or protect him, they didn`t even know himself. Colin Brightman reacted quickly and pulled John Wrights arms behind his back, when the senator tried to go after his own son.  
“Don`t make me do it again, because I will!”, Logan yelled at his father, there was absolutely nothing left of him anymore, just pure rage, but he wasn`t struggling against Derek and the twins, he was perfectly calm and over 200, perfectly in control, he wanted to feel like this, “Let go of me, guys.”, they knew him long enough to follow his orders when they were rational, and no matter how much he resembled a tiger on steroids at this moment, Logan was still thinking with his head, there was too much on the line for him. His best friends life to begin with. They stepped back, Logans eyes still glowered at his father, and what followed was probably the most honest conversation he had ever had with his father.

“Dalton won´t close, quite on the contrary, starting on this day, the board will arrange for a new Art Hall to be built and for the damaged buildings to be restored, classes will start up once the school and the students are able to, probably in about three or four weeks.”, green eyes glared into equal ones, he had spoken with slow, calm words, no one had missed his message, no one had missed the underlying tone of threats  
“You have nothing to decide here. We are the Legacies.”, Senator Wrights head was almost scarlet by then, his green eyes were blazing with fire and when Logan snorted, almost everyone flinched and gaped, especially Derek, Bailey and Kurt did a double take, because never before had Logan looked more like Julian than in that moment, totally snooty, completely ignorant to the authorities, he didn`t give the smallest damn about what his father was thinking of him anymore. He just didn`t care anymore, and with Logan, that was the most dangerous thing that could happen to you.

“It burned in the fire.”, whispers started among the group of people, Daltons and Dobrys students looked at each other, mumbling under their breaths, behind the senator Colin Brightman, Ernest Seigerson and Harold Sullivan exchanged a look. This couldn`t mean, what they feared, right?  
“WHAT?”, it exploded from John Wright after a second of not breathing, Reed stumbled back in shock, Shane catching him before he could have lost his footing, Logan was grinning by then.  
“The manuscript burned in the frigging fire, which means you are out of power! There is no document, no transcript giving the power to the legacies, your word is meaningless.”, he spoke so calmly and slowly, you could expect a three year old to sit across from him, Johns eyelids twitched.  
“I...”, but Logan interrupted whatever bullshit theory his father had tried to come up with, it was another thing he had caught up, when he had been little, never give the other party a chance to defend itself, if you have a message to get across, you need to be the one to talk. His father was getting beaten down by his own tactics, and that he knew, was written all over his face.  
“You can`t do anything, Dad! It`s over. The only written down evidence that ever gave power over the schools fate into the legacies hands has burned in the fire, which means that everyone will get a say in it. And I don`t have to count that long to realize that my generation has the upper hand this time around. Dalton will not close, because we won`t let it.”

“How dare you?”  
“How dare I?”, Logan screamed back, “You are the reason I wasn`t allowed to see my best friend as long as his mother was still sane. The only thing I wanted to do after waking up was to see if Julian was alright, but you had to take that away from me, didn`t you? Just like always, you had to make sure that nothing would ever make me happy. You are the biggest most emotionless bastard I have EVER met!!”, the Senator lost it, his patience and his control, he growled and stalked forward, hand raised to punch, but Logan was quicker.

The twins were already moving, when Logan pushed his fathers fist down with an ease that let Kurt shudder with suppressed fright, green eyes glared down into similar ones, when the senator went down, legs giving out under the pain Logan inflicted in his wrist.  
“Still thinking you are stronger, Dad?...”, it was spoken with so much ill meant honesty, the sarcasm dripping from his tongue, “I`m going to say it again, one more time, just for you. This school is not closing! You have nothing to say anymore. The only thing you will do now, is help get the Art Hall built up again, immediately. Do I make myself clear?!”  
“What do you have against me?”, Logan chuckled once, really frightening, Derek stepped closer to him, behind him, Marcus, Cyrus and Thad copied his steps, it was like a magnet was strung between them.  
“Derek, remind me again, when are the New Yorkers voting next?”, Derek froze for a second and Blaine gasped, but then the athlete took the last step so he was standing right next to his friend, who was still holding his father down. Kurt was confused.  
“In three months.”, Derek spoke out, and Logan grinned, real devilish, like the Cheshire Cat that just killed the glorious canary.  
“Perfect.”, and the whole hall turned deadly silent because suddenly they all understood, “If the Art Hall is not getting rebuilt by the end of the week, I`m out.”, everyone stared at him, “Julians publicist is in the hospital, I still got her number. One call, and your career is completely over.”, there are a thousand emotions crossing John Wrights face, when Logan is silent again, and when he has settled on one, it was mostly the bitter recognition that his son had grown up and was clearly more like him than he had believed until then. This was not Logan, the anger ridden boy, who always lost what was important to him, this was John Logan Wright III, the man who had grown up amongst the best deal and blackmail makers in the world, this was the politician he tried so hard to beat down. Father and son stared each other down, Logan letting go of his father, when the senator seemed to back away, John got to his feet again, no one was saying anything.

Reeds ringing phone broke through the silence and with slightly confused eyes he stepped a little to the side to answer it, but not long after he gasped and whirled around again, frozen by the windows, he stared at Derek and Logan.  
“Clark.... Julian is waking up.”, he cut his message short, when Derek and Logan had snapped their eyes towards him upon mentioning his stepbrothers name. It was too much, it was ultimately too much, sensory overflow, too much pain flooding over him, and Logan blacked out. Crumpled like a piece of paper, and his body hit the floor with a resounding thud, with Derek able to catch him, before his head followed his back, the athlete sank to the floor.  
“Logan? Logan, come on, man, don`t do this to me.”, but his begging went unheard, Logan didn`t move, Ethan and Evan crouched down on either side of him, while Blaine shook himself from the stones sinking down his blood and rushed over to them, passing John Wrights shocked form and the worried eyes of Colin Brightman, everyone else had turned to ice.  
“Logan?”, the Windsor Warbler called out, falling to his knees by the Stuarts head, fingers impatiently tugging at the collar of his shirt until he was able to find his pulse, “Logan, can you hear us?”  
“So he is making a drama out of everything again.”, they heard the senator sigh and both twins had to latch themselves onto Derek to keep him from lunging at the politician.  
“Okay, call an ambulance, something is wrong.”, Blaine suddenly yelled, making Derek and the twins fell back down onto their knees next to Logan again, the curly haired Windsor boy was frantically searching Logans unmoving wrist, eyes narrowing together, he hastily rushed his hands to the boys neck, “Ambulance! NOW!!”, Justin scrambled for his phone, while everyone stared, Kurt and Reed dropped to their knees beside him.  
“Blaine, what`s going on?”, Kurt almost choked on his words, Derek was already undoing the top buttons of Logans shirt, Blaine tried to swallow down his panic.  
“His pulse is slowing down.”, it was barely a whisper, but the hall was so silent, that it jumped from all four walls, the senator jumped to his feet, but before he could have done anything or even opened his mouth to say something, there was a rush of feet and blazers, and a wall of boys built itself between them and the fathers, shielding Logan from view.  
“I think you`ve done enough already.”, it was Marcus Holland speaking out openly for the first time, standing in the middle. 

Stuart was united again.


	2. Down, down, down

The emergency room of the county hospital in Westerville was in utter chaos, for the second time that month, every member of staff was called in to treat to the victims of a horrible car crash that had occurred just outside of the town, injuring several dozen people. Families and friends were waiting, standing around or talking to the completely overwhelmed and stressed out members at the reception, trying to find out if their husbands, wives, friends, children were alright. It was a sheer nightmare, people bleedings, holding broken arms in the cue for the x-ray room. Nurses and Doctors were running around, trying to catalogue the damage, treating patients, giving comfort, the ones with the severe injuries were directly pushed towards the other stations, prepped for instant surgery. And it was in all that horror, that Mary Smith got another call for an incoming emergency, and with all of her proteges on duty, she stepped down herself, waiting in the cold breeze outside of the hospital for the ambulance to arrive.

When the car finally arrived, she almost wished it hadn`t, she had been a trauma physician for over twenty years and even though she had seen so many horrible things in her career, this month had already taking its toll on her, after the boarding school for boys had been on fire and they had been called down, it had been hard to treat to the groups of traumatized and shocked kids and their worried parents, and the young actor was still on the intensive care unit. The backdoors of the ambulance jumped open, before she could think anything more and the paramedics jumped out, pulling out the stretcher. She caught sight of expensive clothing, a white shirt violently ripped apart, and her eyes widened, when she really looked over the scene, one of the paramedics was kneeling on the stretcher along the patient, his hands quickly pushing down upon the strangers chest, and when she raced to the end of the stretcher to help wheel it inside, she saw a face that wasn`t too unfamiliar.  
“Collapsed without any symptons calling for it, got into cardiac arrest five minutes ago, heartbeat is irregular now.”  
“Alright, get him straight to intensive.”, two of the assistant doctors hurried towards them, when they were inside, “I want his blood tested, cat scan, check medical history and get him on oxygin. You two make him your first priority.”, her instructions were clear, as they all stepped into the elevator, she leaned down and checked over the boys pupils, frowning down at the paleness of his skin.  
“He is starting to slip again.”, one of the paramedics, who had kept his fingers on the boys pulse suddenly alarmed down again, and Marys fingers fumbled for the walkie talkie.  
“I need a defibrillator to the main elevator, third floor, right now! Clear the floor of all people.”  
“Madam, why...”, Tom Johnson, the youngest in her team, was confused.  
“Because he is the senators son!”

Derek had no idea of how much his best friends condition had worsened after the ambulance had taken him away and the senator had called Michelle and had followed the ambulance in his car, assured by the twins that they would look after Logan and not leave him alone, and being under the impression that Logan had surely just collapsed from his lack of sleep and too much stress, Derek gave himself some time to cool off again and went to see Julian first. As much as he was worried about Logan right now, Julian had finally woken up and he wanted to see so much how he was doing, and Logan would probably kill him if he got to him later and couldn`t tell him how the actor was doing. He didn`t even solely realize that Blaine and Kurt had followed him with the singers car, slipping into the elevator with him, exchanging some silent words on their way to Julians room. His cast mates were gone from the corridor, even though Derek suspected that Clark was inside, after all he had called. 

The door opened and the first thing they saw were Julians brown eyes, clear, awake and so so much relief crashed over them, Derek could feel mountains falling from his heart again, when sepia stared right back at him, filled with the same relief he felt.  
“Derek.”, the actor breathed out, when his friend pushed past Cameron Pike and Clark Sawyer, and then they were hugging each other, and it almost brought tears to Kurts eyes, where he stopped in the door with Blaine at his side, “Oh, thank god, you`re okay. You`re okay.”, Julian rambled, pressing his face into the crook of Dereks neck, “You`re okay.”, Derek was crying, when they pulled apart, “Hey, hey.”, Julian instantly went to comfort him, Cameron and Clark slipped from the room, and Kurt pushed Blaine further inside so he could close the door, and give them some kind of privacy, even if there was no way in hell he would let them completely alone right now, Derek was as instable as Logan had been, “I`m okay, D, I`m okay.”, Julian smiled at him, it was tired, but it was still him, he cradled his friends face in his hands, until Derek returned the smile. Giving him a moment to compose himself again, Julian turned to them, begging them closer.  
“Thank god, you`re okay.”, Kurt said, when he pulled the actor shortly into his arms, Julian chuckled, and when Kurt pulled away, he swatted his hand against Julians not bandaged arm once, “And don`t ever do that again! We could have gotten all of us out of there!”, and upon mentioning the situation on the staircase, Julian froze up, quickly looking around, his eyes widened.  
“Where is Logan?”, and he panicked, frantically looking from one to the other, “Derek, where is Logan? Is he okay? Damn it, tell me he is okay!”, Derek pushed him back from where he had sat up, heart monitor picking up speed.  
“He is okay, Jules, calm down. Logan is okay.”  
“So, where is he? Why isn`t he here?”

“He blacked out after he saved Dalton from being closed.”, Blaine said, ignoring Derek and Kurt glaring at him with murderous eyes, Julian blinked, “Come on, guys, I think this is not the time to keep new secrets. Honesty, remember? I don`t think Logan wants us to lie to Julian.”, Derek and Kurt both huffed, before they turned back to Julian, “Ethan and Evan are with him. He just needs to rest for a while, he barely closed an eye all week.”, the door opened in that moment and Julians gaze darkened when he spotted the woman in the expensive grey skirt.  
“Get out of the fucking room, mother! I`m not talking to you, until Dad is here!”  
“Julian...”  
“Cameron!!”, the actor yelled, when his mother made to take a step closer, the black haired Hollywood star appeared in the doorway, “Get her out of here, and preferable get her out of this freaking hospital! I don`t want to talk to her!”, Dolce Larson stared at her son, completely unbelieving, but Cameron Pike pulled her from the room, the door fell shut again and it was quiet, the loudest sound was Julians highlighted breathing.  
“What is it with this rebellion against parental supervision today from you. Too much coffee withdrawal?”, Blaine wanted to know, absolutely amused, Derek snorted and Julian looked between them in confusion.  
“Logan punched his father.”, Kurt explained for him and Julians brown eyes almost bucked from his sockets, “I have never seen him more dangerous. He threatened to out himself if the school wouldn`t be open again next week. Shocked them all speechless. Surprisingly enough, he looked so much like you when he did.”  
“He did what?”, Julian very slowly spoke out, looking from Blaine to Derek, but both grinned at him, “Excuse me?”  
“Yeah, and then Derek here went against Senior, and the twins really got to work on their father. It was really great.”, Julian blinked at his close friend and Derek sheepishly smiled back at him, he looked almost ashamed for how he had screamed at his father, when they had waited for an ambulance to arrive, while the senator had blindly stared at his son.

A voice on the corridor got them to shut up again, especially when Dolce Larsons unmistakable screeching got even louder and more outraged, Derek grinned and shifted on the edge of Julians bed, nudging his shoulder against his friend, who grinned in response, and looked even more relaxed, in the corner Sonic curiously poked his nose through the bares of his cage, Kurt and Blaine exchanged a confused glance.  
“Oh, this will be good.”, Julian mumbled, getting more comfortable in his pillows, just as the door to his room flew open again, and a middle aged man entered the room, white pants, red shirt, oak brown hair being held back by a pair of black ray ban sunglasses, tanned face grimaced in annoyance, brown eyes were rolled around, when the producer stepped into the room, eyes still halfway directed to the woman directly behind him. Kurt blinked, completely taken aback by whatever karma was flooding the room in that moment, because Travis Armstrong looked nothing like he had imagined him, but he looked exactly like someone would picture Julian Larsons father to look like. The resemblance between father and son was remarkable.

“Shut up, woman, you are getting on my nerves!”, Travis barked out at his ex wife, Julian grinned only wider, “Julian, god lord, you are alright.”, was the first thing the Hollywood mogul said, when his eyes fell upon his son, three long strides and he had crossed the room, pulling his son into a tight embrace, almost knocking Derek from the bed in the process. Behind him Dolce stalked into the room, arms crossed over her chest, Cameron Pike was standing right next to her, showing his discomfort at her presence, Clark and Julians manager Carmen nervously hovered in the doorway, “God, I was shocked, when Cam called.”, Travis continued, when he let go of the young actor again, “Especially because he called and not your mother.”, another glare behind his back, Julian went along with it grateful for the parental support.  
“You have nothing to do here, I had it all under control.”, Dolce hissed and her blue eyes cut through the whole room, Carmen pushed Clark into the suddenly very small room and closed the door so nobody would hear the disturbance. Clark grimaced even more, quickly rushing over to Kurt and Blaine into the corner by the window, Derek wanted to join them, too, but Julian pulled him back to his side, he was the only one amused by the whole spectacle.

“Control?”, Travis let out a bitter laugh, “This is what control looks like for you? Our son is in the hospital, woman, in the hospital, he just woke up from a coma. This is not control! Control would have been you finding out about this stalker way before this could have happened and without Julian needing to tell you!”, so he blamed her for all of this, what an interesting new view, even Julian looked surprised for a moment, “And then you exile him like some contagious disease, at the one moment that he needed his family the most, and I don`t mean us with that!”, even though he looked like a fun guy, Travis Armstrong was on fire, on a war path against his ex wife, “And I have to get to know from a friend that my son, my only son risked his life to save the people he cared about, because some crazy psychopath couldn`t have been stopped!”  
“He didn`t want security.”, Carmen dared to interfere and Travis sent a glowering look.  
“You are going to be silent, dear! I`ll deal with your fate later! And who cares what he wants.”, Julian scowled, but his father ignored him, “He is seventeen, for christs sake, you are his mother, if you want security, if you even think it could be better, than he gets them. Easy as that!”, he snapped his fingers, Blaine, Kurt and Clark jumped, “So, I want answers. Why didn`t you call me? Why didn`t you let his friends inside? Even more specific, why didn`t you let Derek and Logan inside?”, he seemed to know a lot about his sons life, more than Kurt would have expected for someone who was always busy with work. Travis seemed to care a whole lot about his son, more than his mother.  
“Senator...”

“Wright?”, Travis exclaimed and Julian narrowed his eyes, “You let that man get into your head? He was worried about his own child, let him throw around accusations, when he gets down to think rationally again, he will realize that this wasn`t Julians fault. We all know that. Where is Logan anyway, I was expecting him to be glued to your side?”, Travis turned to his son again, while Dolce was left snapping for air in blind rage.  
“Some rooms down the corridor, he collapsed after he saved Dalton from being closed.”  
“Is this you, too? So you could take Julian back to L.A. And throw him into the next movie deal you can let your wannabee darling find?”, Carmen huffed, Dolce fumed, “God, I`m so glad, that Cameron called, because I`ve had it with you, for once and for all. I had enough. You`ve destroyed your sons life for the last time.”, and when Dolce wanted to open her mouth in protest, Travis exploded and even Cameron flinched, “This is over. You are not taking him back to that godforsaken city, Julian will stay right here and once he is released, he will go right back to Dalton and be a teenager for once. No movie deals, no interviews, no photoshoots, nothing! I had enough of you always wringing him out like a towel, he is not a money machine, Dolce. I`m so sick of always hearing from him what you decided for him now, Julian has his own life and he is allowed to live it as he wants, and not like you dictate it. You will hear from my lawyer, but I am pretty sure that this will be an easy case, once they get to know that you stole your sons money...”

“She did what?”, Julian almost jumped into a sitting position, snapping the smartphone from Dereks pocket, fingers hurriedly snapping over keys, “Oh my god, she did! You stole my money! I can`t believe this! And you are wondering why I don`t want to spend time with you anymore. Oh my freaking god.”, Travis continued as if Julians little moment hadn`t happened.  
“He will be my sole responsibility from now on. You will have nothing to say in his life anymore and those ten million dollars will get back to him, and you can be sure that my alimony for you will stop immediately. And you!”, he rounded on Carmen, “You are fired! And if I ever see you in contact with Julian again, you can be assured that you will never find a client in Hollywood again, missy!”, Carmen threw her phone against the wall and slammed the door behind herself.  
“He needs an agent.”  
“Can you never shut up!”, Travis screamed at his once wife, “The only thing he needs is to get better, to heal, his friends. He needs peace, and be a kid. And now, you will go, too, because I can`t stand your face anymore, Julian doesn`t want you here, and frankly said, I don`t think anyone wants you to be here.”, Dolce sent one last look towards her son and then she vanished from the room, heels clicking angrily on the ground, there was a moment of silence after her exit, until Julian threw his arms around his fathers neck again, his whole demeanor changed.  
“I`m so happy, you are here.”  
“You have no idea how I felt, when Cam called. You`re okay, right? It`s just the foot, nothing else?”

It knocked and whoever was on the other side of the door had enough attitude to just open the door without anyone answering, and it didn`t surprise Kurt, when blond hair poked into the room, both twins entering the room and standing nervously side by side, which was enough to have them all on edge again. Derek and Julian froze instantly, because serious twins could never be a good sign.  
“We wanted to bring good news.”, one of them, Julian suspected Ethan started, and he could feel his blood turn to ice, no, this could not be happening, without knowing he had whispered those words out loud, his father grabbed his hand, concerned, “He slipped into a coma.”, and Julian dropped back into the bed, from the corner of his eyes, he could see how Blaine and Kurt both sat down in shock, Derek just stared into the air, “They don`t know what is wrong, he is not responding to any tests. Michelle and the senator are with him right now, speaking with the doctors.”, and though everything in his body was screaming and protesting, Julian pushed the blanket away with a sudden burst of energy, Derek still frozen by his side, when he sat up, swinging both legs out of the bed.  
“Okay, that`s it. I`m out of this bed.”

“Julian...”, Cameron and Travis both went to stop him at the same time, but the younger actor shot them a withering look, Kurt was more concerned about the catatonic state Derek had fallen into.  
“No, I`m not staying here! I`m fine!”, Julian hissed at everyone, yanking the hospital gown further down, “I`m okay, nothing hurts. I`ll even let you drive me over to him in a wheelchair, but I need to see Logan. Right now.”, even the twins stayed silent upon watching the emotional outbreak, Julians eyes were tearing up, “And there is no one able to stop me. He needs me. He needs me there, because the last fucking time I saw him I chose to let him go.”, he was crying, clutching onto his fathers arm without really knowing, Blaine couldn`t take it anymore, he couldn`t watch Julian like this, knowing that he would never be this weak around them on a normal basis, and he wanted so desperately for everything to go back to normal, for them to have a chance to heal, and they weren`t Julians family, so he pulled Kurt from the room, just as the tears in Julians eyes really spilled over, “I let him go. I chose for him to be safe. I wanted him to get out of that building, alive. And now I have to learn that for the last week he wanted nothing more than to see me, that my own mother wouldn`t let my best friend to my side, and I know that it must have killed him. And now he is there all alone, knowing that I woke up without him here. Without him at my side, and I know that he blames himself, that he couldn`t be there. I just need to see him. Please, Dad, I need to see him.”, and he crumpled into his fathers arms, Travis Armstrong circled his arms around his crying son and closed his eyes, holding him tight.

Clark and Cameron closed their eyes, pushing hands over their faces, too touched by Julians agony to do something, no one but the twins saw Derek silently slipping from the room, but like this, they followed him, hurrying after him, when he stormed down the corridor. Blaine and Kurt had left, too tired and too exhausted to stay at the hospital anymore and after all, there was a whole group of boys who still didn`t know the new drama they had stepped into.  
“Derek, where are you going?”, Ethan called out, power walking behind the Stuart athlete, whose face was still devoid of any emotion, both Brigthmans feared he had finally cracked, Dereks emotional and physical stability had them all rattled in those last two weeks. So much had happened and all Derek had ever worried about were his friends, not for one second had he stopped to take a break for himself.  
“It`s none of your business.”, he snapped at them, turning left to step into the corridor of the ICU that they had placed Logan inside, both twins exchanged a look.  
“Derek, this is really not the time to settle some disputes. We know he made a lot of mistakes, but Logan really needs his family right now.”, the Stuart boy rounded so fast on Evan that both twins almost stumbled over their feet, he pushed himself into the Windsors private space, pressing one finger against his chest.

“Those people in his room are not his family! And you of all people know that best!”, he seethed at them, a dangerous fire burning in his eyes, “The only family he has are Julian and me! That man only hurts him, every fucking single time he steps into his life! And I`m so sick of my friends always getting hurt, to have to take the fall, and it stops right now, and right here! Logan will get his family, he will wake up and when he does, he will have the people around him who love him! And don`t you dare try and stop me, this is so long overdue that I`m not able to stop anymore! I`ve lost every respect I ever had of him! Logan is in that room because of him!”, and having effectively stunned them into silence, Derek straightened up again, “He is my friend, he is my brother and I will only stop fighting for my family when I`m dead!”, brown eyes glared a hole right through them and then Derek whisked violently around and almost barged through the door with the number 234, the room the twins had left not even fifteen minutes ago, the door slammed shut again before they had even started blinking.  
“You think we should call, Dad?”, Ethan carefully asked, wincing when voices were suddenly raised behind the door, and then Michelle Wright stumbled from the room, looking like a deer struck by a truck.  
“Yeah, I think it could be better.”, Evan fiddled with his phone, speed dialing his fathers number, while his brother calmly approached Michelle Wright, giving her a small smile and leading her over to a chair, she was pale, frightened and scared, so deeply worried.

And inside the hospital room things only continued to explode, Evan waved some nurses hastily away, when they came running into the corridor upon hearing the raised voices.  
“Dad, hey, we need you at the hospital, right now. Derek finally cracked, and it `s all unloading on the senator.”, he couldn`t continue, because just as Ethan had asked Michelle if he could bring her anything, the door of Logans rooms flew open again and John Wright was being pushed into the corridor, Dereks hands neatly placed on the older mans chest.  
“Don`t think of coming any closer to him as long as you don`t accept him for who he is! I will not look on like an idiot any longer. Logan doesn`t want you here, so take your fucking ass back to New York and stay where you want to be, far away from your own son! Nobody needs you, you only ever destroy and hurt people. I had so much respect for you some years ago, I admired you for your work, now, the only thing I see is an old man who is losing his touch and is so desperate to have some power again that he takes his frustration out on his own child. Fuck off, John!”, brown eyes took one last glare at the dumbstruck senator and then Derek turned on his feet and slammed the door into Logans fathers face. Silence ruled for a short moment, until Evan could hear his father take a deep breath on the other end of the line.  
“I`ll be there in ten minutes. Keep John away from Derek and Julian.”

It was hard going back to Dalton, they didn`t know who was holding onto whom as Kurt and Blaine stepped back into the Windsor common room, every eye was immediately upon them, especially because they had returned without the twins.  
“How is Julian?”, Reed wanted to know from the top of the staircase, Charlie was the first one who took notice of their tired and exhausted faces, of the shock in their eyes.  
“Guys, what happened?”, he called out to them, from where he had been sitting with Justin and Spencer, Wes and David close by.  
“Julian is okay.”, Blaine started to answer, “Really fine... It`s Logan.”, there was a very defined silence in the common room, Dwight and Laura stepped out of the kitchen, faces horrified. Charlie and Justin had visibly blanched, and Reed was desperately holding onto the banister, Shane appearing by his side out of nowhere, “They don`t know what`s wrong, he just...”, and it was as if the whole situation just broke over him, with a choking sound, Blaine dropped to his knees, both hands splayed over his face, and Kurt felt horrible, because he couldn`t do anything, he couldn`t comfort him, there was so much, so much unknown, he couldn`t grasp onto it.  
“He slipped into a coma.”, Justin almost melted into the chair, all muscles going jelly, “He is not responding to any tests, they think it could have something to do with all the trauma, they call it Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, but... there could also be the possibility that it could have something to do with the drugs that Adam slipped him. We can only wait.”, he could see that his explanation wasn`t enough for anyone, that the questions only started at that point.  
“How are Julian and Derek taking this?”, Kurt had no idea how he could have possibly answered Davids question, so he let it be, the pictures of Julians hysterical crying still branded into his mind, Dereks lifeless brown eyes.  
“Where are Ethan and Evan?”, Charlie had pushed a hand through his hair, exchanging some looks with Spencer, eyes turning towards Justins still position on the chair.  
“At the hospital, and I don`t think they are going to leave until tomorrow. Derek and Julian need someone there to catch them.”, Kurt told him, “And I don`t think they are thinking straight themselves right now.”, they all slipped into silence, it was maybe slightly surprising, surely for Kurt, who was still new to this after all, worried for the boy who had brought them so much pain and trouble, fearing for his life, praying that he would be alright, when some weeks ago they had wished him to suffer.

On the private plane, that was taking its course back to New York City, the air had turned really icy, Michelle Wright had plugged in her earphones the second they had boarded, taking a seat in the far back of the plane, flipping her feet onto the one across from her and throwing her bag onto the one next to her, instantly busying herself with her laptop, furiously typing away and only turning her music louder, when the plane went into the air. John Wright had had no chance but to take a seat in the front, falling into the seat and pushing both hands over his face, he was tired, so tired and exhausted, he could barely keep his eyes open anymore, but he knew that sleeping would be fruitless, too, he would only see his sons face. Would only see the sneer on Logans face, green eyes blazing with so much fire, he had never seen him so passionate, so dead set on fighting until everyone was bleeding, and it was so not what he had wanted. Not for himself, and especially not for Logan. Sighing, he leaned further back and dared a quick look back to his wife, blue eyes only graced him shortly, but it was full of venom and anger. He knew Michelle was furious, angry at him, because he had messed up again, he had pushed Logans buttons too far this time, he had made a mistake too big to be ignored any longer. And the worst of all? Logan had never been more close to him than when he had punched him, this was even more messed up than initially feared, his own son had never been more like him as in the moment he had gone against him. And now, he was laying in that hospital bed, hooked to machines, searching for something to live for, something to fight for, and he couldn`t be there, because it wouldn`t help. 

Derek had been right, it wasn`t his place anymore, when Logan didn`t even want to be in his presence. What had happened to them? When had he become the monster his son had always been afraid of, when had he become the one thing he had always tried so hard not to be? Politician first and father second, why hadn`t he stopped himself? Why hadn`t he seen it? All his life he had never wanted his career to rule his family, and now his only son was threatening to use his own sexuality to ruin him. Something which shouldn`t even be a possibility, because his child shouldn`t even be afraid who he was, who he liked. Logan had always done what he had thought would be best for his career and staid in the closet... he shouldn`t even have to think about that, the question shouldn`t have been, what would happen to Dads career if I come out, it should have been, do I want to come out, do I want everybody to know. He had no idea what to do, no idea on how to fix this, where to start, but something needed to be done. He couldn`t lose Logan, too.

When his phone buzzed, he pulled it from his pants, fingers already shaking again, awaiting the worst, but the name on the screen wasn`t from someone still in Ohio, it was way worse.  
“Hey...”  
“What the hell is wrong with you, you incompetent big idiot!”, the voice on the other side screamed into his ear, and John loosened his tie and dropped his elbows to his thighs, taking one hand to carry his head, when he bend over, closing his eyes, “How many marbles have you lost in your stupid political battles to take that school away from him! Don`t you realize how much Dalton means to him! How much those boys gave him a family that he never had because you couldn`t get your head out of your ass! I have truly never been more disappointed in you in my entire life! Or more angry, and furious! You are a worthless piece of shit right now, and if I could I would fly right over to New York and knock some much needed sense into you, but as I was told Logan already did that himself! What is wrong with you, John?”, all yelled in one giant intake of breath, and John really felt like crying in the end, “I can`t believe you let that happen, let him get so far away from you. I can`t believe it.”, at the other end of the aisle, Michelle had taken away her earphones, intendly staring at his slowly breaking form.  
“Dad, I`m...”, he didn`t get far, his father instantly interrupted him again.

“NO, you listen to me right now. You are my son, and I raised you a thousand times better than this! You are not treating family like your enemies, and I will not watch you any longer treating my only grandchild like crap. All that boy ever needed was someone to love him, someone to care for him and show him that he wasn`t alone and would never be alone, and when he finally found it outside of his own family, you had to try and destroy it for him again. God, Ì`m shaking with anger right now, and of course it`s Colin who called me. Not you, it`s Colin!”, and there he could hear the true frustration, that his own son hadn`t called to tell him that his grandchild had fallen into a coma, because he went against his father and it was just too much. A week ago, Logan had called his grandfather himself, calmly explaining about the fire and what had happened, “I should probably try and get that poor boy awarded with a honor medal, after everything he had done for his friends. Derek is a saint, a freaking saint with much more bravery than he should have, going against three of the most powerful men there are, and one of them his own father. Do you ever think about what you are doing? Or do you just never care? I don`t even want to talk to you, I just called to tell you that you better get your priorities straight or we will see who is caring about Logan until he can finally decide for himself! I will not let him get hurt by you any longer! Colin will call me with updates, and maybe when I am gracious I will give them to you, too. He is your son, John. He loves you, and no matter how much you will push in his way, he will always love you. Get your head straight!”, and without letting him utter another word, John Wright I ended his call.

“He burned it.”, were the first words out of Blaines mouth again, when they were sitting in the common room, crowded around each other, Hanover and Windsors side by side, no one had heard a word from Stuart, but they had always stood on the outside. They coped in their own way. All eyes went to look at him, where he was sitting between Kurt and his brother on the couch, Reed timidly sitting cross legged on the ground before them.  
“Who burned what, Blaine?”, Charlie wanted to know, he was sharing the couch by the fireplace with Justin and Spencer, Merril had chosen to sit between Spencers legs on the ground, absentmindedly carding her fingers through Dannys hair, where the boy was sitting next to her, a blanket placed under his injured leg. Wes and David had engaged in a silent round of chess in the corner, keeping an eye on Dwight who was sitting a little to the side again, staring into his books again, Laura by his side, but also silent.  
“Logan.”, Blaine answered, raising his head and locking eyes with his prefect and Justin by his side, “He burned the manifest.”, and everybody grew even more silent, “He pulled me into Ramseys office, demanded to get handed the manifest, Ramsey was way too surprised to not do it, I think she was just happy someone had finally found an idea how to save the school. And before I could have said one word, he snatched a lighter from his pockets, I don`t even freaking know why he suddenly had one with him, he never carried one of those, not since Julians fucking movie disaster.”, it all tumbled from him, he was unable to keep it bottled up anymore, raking his hands through his hair, Blaine appeared even more disheveled, “And then it just went up into flames.”, he snapped his fingers once, making at least half of the room jump, “Just like that.”

Flashback:  
“What the hell are you doing?”, Blaine called out, jumping forward, fully intending to snatch the burning piece of paper out of Logans hands, convinced he had finally lost his mind and gone insane, not caring that their Dean was standing wide eyed only some feet away, completely speechless and stunned. Logan reeled back, green eyes focused on the burning paper in his right hand, the dark bags under his eyes, the sick paleness of his face, Blaines mind was going a mile an hour.  
“Don`t you understand?!”, and there the Stuart looked up, and fuck, he looked so lost and crushed, so desperate for something to hold onto, Blaine stopped, two feet away, hands already outstretched, “Don`t you see? This...”, and he held up the crumpling mess of the former legacy agreement, “This is the only thing that gives them power! The manifest is the only thing that gives them a right to close the school, to take Dalton away from us and I can`t let that happen! This is the only thing I have, Blaine, this is all I have left! It has to burn!”, Blaine couldn`t say anything, couldn`t stop him anymore, because he could understand, he could see the reason, the plan behind him, “I`m so sick of always taking the blows, I can`t let him win this one, too, Blaine! I need Dalton. This school is the only home we ever had, you know that just like I do! Without Dalton, we are going under. We made mistakes and Adam is the biggest of them, but we can make it right again, if we get the chance!”, both of their eyes flashed to Ramsey in the same moment, their Dean stared right back for a moment, before she cleared her throat.  
“Well, finally someone has a plan.”, and they grinned, at her, and at each other, “But for the record, I have nothing to do with this.”, and then they all watched as Logan let the paper float to the wooden floor, kicking out the flames with his shoes, when all there had been left were ashes.  
End

“Logan knew what he was doing, he wasn`t in his right mind, but he knew exactly what would happen. Without the manifest, no father would have a right to close the school, and he knew Ramsey would back us up. She didn`t want to loose the school, but her hands were bound, and no one would go looking for the paper, no one besides Logan even knew that the manifest hadn`t really been stored in the Art Hall.”, Blaine looked so desperate, hair sticking everywhere, eyes so wide, the bags under them so thick and dark, he needed to sleep really badly.  
“We did.”, Charlie and Justin chorused, but both prefects went unnoticed, all eyes were still on Blaine, whose hands were shaking in his lap.  
“It was the most brilliant plan he had ever had. And it worked, it fucking worked and now he is gone.”, Blaine jumped to his feet and stepped away from the couches, raking both hands through his hair, Kurt closed his eyes, willing his thoughts to not go down that path, Justin pushed a hand over his face again, and Merril squeezed his knee.  
“Don`t say it like that. He will wake up.”, Kurts voice worked on its own, without him really intending to, and he looked at his boyfriend, Blaine looked so lost.

“Maybe, Kurt, maybe he will.”, his voice got louder, more uncontrollable, “Maybe he will, nobody knows it, because nobody fucking knows what is wrong! But I know, he blames himself, his mind doesn`t have the power and the energy to continue fighting, because Julian woke up without him there. Don`t you see, guys? All this last week, he wanted to be by his side, he wanted to be there, after everything that had happened, he wanted to be there for Julian. Just this one time, after he hadn`t been there for him for three fucking years! He never knew! He just wanted to be there, and now, Julian woke up without him, and I know that Logan just can`t take it anymore. People always leave him, he can`t let Julian leave him, too.”, he was breathing heavily, completely freaked out, showing how much he was affected by this, after he had been so strong the last days.  
“You knew, didn`t you?”, Charlie wanted to know, slowly getting to his feet.

“Of course I knew!”, Blaine rounded back on them and Kurt watched in utter shock, how Blaine almost crumpled in on himself, tears already in his eyes, “At least, I knew that there had to be something, helping us get together and then vanishing with a pop, only reappearing when things got messy and then flipping away again, when things got serious with Josh. I`m not an idiot, I was there, I was in on this whole freaking mess. And I`m not blind, I knew how Julian was looking at us. Yes, he was jealous, but why didn`t I say anything? I was selfish, alright? And maybe a tad bit mean, Julian needed to get his act together. Logan didn`t need to hear this from anyone else. Even if it would have changed basically everything.”, it poured out from him and even though they could all see how much it hurt him, nobody did anything to stop him, they couldn`t, they had all reached their limits and went beyond them.

“What do you mean?”, Reed piped up from the ground, Charlie had walked over to Blaine and pulled him against him, giving some comfort, Blaine heavily leaned against him, closing his eyes, breath coming out in one long huff, he was drained of all energy.  
“It means exactly what you think it means. It`s always been Julian. Julian here, Julian there, Julian everywhere, Logan just didn`t see it. God, you know who earned a medal once they realize how perfect they are for each other?”, Charlie and Justin found each other eyes and silently communicated, while basically everyone’s mind went to the one person the most affected by now, even though he had never been really involved himself.  
“Derek.”, the whole room called out together, nodding to themselves, Justin nodded at Charlie and straightened up, they needed something to do, and even though they were tired and emotionally exhausted, they needed to keep their head in the game, there was a school desperate to be called a home again. 

“They only thing, we can do now, is wait. Tidy up the school again, help those Stuarts to get some order and control back and be there, when Derek and Julian need us. We will work this mess out, and they will work out theirs. We`ll bring Dalton back to its feet.”, Charlie brought a smile back to their faces, calling to their spirit, their fighting hearts to awaken their last ressources, they needed a distraction and their school needed them,“And it starts right tonight, because I think we are all itching to do something. Dwight!”, upon hearing his name, the young hunter looked up, “You got any spells to banish some evil spirits?”, the Windsors looked at their prefect with raised eyebrows, while Dwight hesitantly nodded, waiting for the joke, but it never came, Charlie looked dead serious, clapping his hands once and pushing Blaine back onto the couch to sit down, “Great.”  
“Yeah.”, Justin pulled himself into the conversation, “You can start right with Hanover. Get that room all cleared, because I will not set one foot into that hell hole, not before every last remaining evil demonic spirit Adam has left behind will be gone. Spence and I, we`ll get his things cleaned out, I don`t want them in my house anymore.”, Justin pulled Spencer to his side and waited until Dwight had stood up as well, “Get your things and meet us in the common room. And keep an eye on my sister.”, Dwight nodded and together with Laura, he rushed up the stairs to get to his room.

“You two are alright?”, Kurt wanted to clarified, both prefects nodded, Charlie was already looking for a paper and a pen, boys got to their feet and crowded around their two prefects.  
“He needs it, Kurt, he really needs to be needed right now. And even I`m convinced that we are haunted by had spirits at the moment. The rest of you just go and look where you can do something, but leave Stuart alone. The best we can do for them tonight now is give them space and peace. Marcus will send Bailey over if they need help, he has it under control at the moment.”, Justin explained with a tired smile, Kurt had the impression that if one more bad news would come their way, Justin would just fall over, he looked as if he hadn`t slept more than an hour each night since the fire, surely trying to make sure everyone in his house was okay.  
“Alright, we`ll make this in groups. Merril, you take Reed and Kurt, and check up on Miss Medel, she needs to hear about Logan from someone closer to her than Howard or Murdoch.”, Kurt wanted to protest, throwing a quick look over his shoulder at Blaine, sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, Charlie saw his hesitation, “Danny can stay with Blaine, Kurt. He just needs some sleep, he will be okay, I`ll talk with him.”, Kurt nodded, “Drew, Saturo, Jeff, you take the freshmen and take a look at the ruins of the Art Hall. Be careful, but we need to safe what can be saved, take some flashlights with you. Todd, can you keep an eye on Dwight for me?”, and like that it continued, Charlie and Justin divided their houses and assigned everyone with something to do, and all groups of boys stepped away and started to chatter, filled with some energy again, because as cruel as it might sound, life did go on, if you wanted it or not.

Their fathers had been stopped, their school would not close, Colin Brightman had taken over the board to make sure that a plan would be developed on how to build up their home again, a plan that would be made together with them, once Logan had woken up, because they all were agreed on waiting until the boy who had saved them could speak for them again. Logan had gone from monster to hero in the moment he had been the most dangerous. 

In the hospital, Derek and Julian were sitting in Logans dark hospital room, the actor on the couch, wearing some sweatpants and his fathers jacket over his hospital gown, the athlete on a chair on the other side of the bed, where their best friend was lying motionless, pale white, chest rising slowly and falling again with his shallow breaths. They both stared at his face, both pairs of brown eyes focused on the dark bags under his eyes, under the exhaustion in his face, the loneliness, the pain. They felt so helpless, because there was nothing they could do, and it wasn`t until Julian started crying again that Derek felt the energy to move. Walking around the hospital bed, he pulled up the blanket a nurse had brought in some minutes ago and sat down next to Julian, pulling him back against his chest and holding onto him, keeping him together, keeping himself together. He didn`t even notice how the door opened again and the twins slipped back into the room, making sure that they wouldn`t be alone again, and without the Stuarts knowing about it, they had found new allies, people who would make sure that they for once would find some happiness. Back in the corridor, unbeknownst to each others presence, Travis Armstrong and Colin Brightman were talking to the doctors about their sons and godsons respective states.

It was a long day, Dalton had been saved, it was just the question who would have to pay the ultimate price for it.


	3. The look in your eyes

It could have all been so easy, they could have all lived happily ever after, moved on from that nightmare and overcome it all together, built Dalton from anew, without a crazy psycho stalker haunting their everyday lives. Wounds had healed, friends had found back to each other, even Julian with the worst injuries and the most trauma had been released from the hospital to rest back in the only place he had ever dared to call home, but it wasn`t easy. Life wasn`t easy, and nothing was going back to normal, because they weren`t back together. Something was missing. Someone was missing.

Logan wasn`t waking up.

The doctors had no explanation, there was nothing physically wrong with him, no indication of a neglected injury, just a body slowly giving up. Just a mind too exhausted to fight. Julian and Derek didn`t leave his sight after the fourth day had passed, the actor had already been released from the hospital, steadily ignoring his mothers begging to come back to Los Angeles with her, Travis Armstrong had successfully placed her on a plane by now, realizing that his son wouldn`t go anywhere for a very long time now. They were a mess, both of them, only sleeping when their bodies forced them to, and even then only ever in Logans room, only ever by his side, never more than two feet from him. Ethan and Evan came and went, always being everywhere at once, while Daltons students all helped in rebuilding their beloved school, scrubbing hideous blood of off carpets and tiles, cleaning up the demolished Stuart common room and anteroom, making sure there was absolutely nothing left of Adam. Kurt and Blaine staid with them during the day sometimes, making sure they would eat and drink at least something.

“He looks almost peaceful.”, Kurt said quietly on the eigth day, Blaine had just gone to talk to his father over the phone, his parents had gone back to California some days ago, after both Anderson brothers had made it very clear where their hearts belonged and that they would never go anywhere else. Derek looked over from where he had been tiredly leaning against the window, staring out into the sunny day, he had dark circles under his eyes, he looked pale and so much sickeningly worried, that Kurt could barely stand the look in his lifeless brown eyes. Julian didn`t even acknowledge that something had been said, he was sitting on his chair by Logans side, hands holding his friends unmoving ones, eyes staring intensely at them, begging and longing for them to twitch, to squeeze back, to do just anything, it was the position he was in when he wasn`t sleeping. Logan was lying lifeless in the crisp white bed, skin almost blending in with the sheets, eyes closed, face impassive, chest heaving with slow breaths, that had slightly become irregular yesterday again, so that they had placed him on oxygen, more tubes on his body. The IV line in his left hand, the cables running to the heart monitor, filling the room with the steady beating of a heart.

“For once, I don`t want him to look peaceful.”, Derek snapped over to him, where he had sat down on the other chair in the room, “I want him to rant, to scream, yell at us for staying at his side like obedient little puppies, telling us how pathetic we are and then finally get the hell out of this and scream at those insufferable little kids to get their butts moving and get the common room into order again. I want him awake, and maybe then we can get started on him being peaceful. On them being peaceful.”, he seethed, nudging his head towards Julian, who still looked as if he hadn`t heard them, and it was probably the truth, the actor was just as gone as Logan, he had fought so much to keep the one person safe that he loved more than anything else, only to have to realize that Logan was suddenly more worse off than he had been. His injuries had had a reason, his coma had been explained, his body had needed time to recover, Logan was just... not there. It must have felt like failing, because he couldn`t have done something to prevent this, there wasn`t anything involved he could stopped.

“Derek...”, Kurt tried to talk to the athlete, he had tried it several times over the last day, but Derek was like a tiger mother, who had already lost a cub and was hell bend on fighting for her last one with everything she had left, his energies were low, so low, and his hands were shaking whenever he felt unobserved, but he was still dangerous. And Kurt knew he was walking on thin ice, because Derek had never been his friend and he would probably never be his friend. Derek was used to people fighting back, with words, with fists, he was not used to waiting.  
“Don`t Derek me, I`m not a child! And don`t tell me that everything is going to be okay, because it won`t as long as Logan is not awake and breathing without help and actually looking at me. Those words won`t count anything until they are coming from him. I`m not going to believe in them until he is the one saying them, because he blacked out on me, because he collapsed into my arms.”, Kurt had no idea how he had earned to be on the receiving end of the aggressive outbreak that had been brooding in Derek for days now, but he was happy it wasn`t Julian, so he got to his feet and crossed the room until he was standing right in front of Derek.

“Okay, let me hear it.”, he offered and Derek almost lunged at him, flashed in front of him and seized him up with a hand grabbing the front of his shirt, brown eyes were blazing with fire, it was remarkable how they all seemed to morph into one single person sometimes, how the Stuart trio really became just one dangerous seething enemy.  
“How can you be so fucking calm about all of this. He is giving up, he is fucking giving up after everything that happened, after everything. Everything that happened to him and Julian, to us. My friend is dying!”, they both flinched at those words, but they had heard the nurses whispering outside of the room, “My best friend is dying in here, dying! After I just got them back, after I had to watch them being trapped inside a burning building, after I had to watch them jumping from windows.”, it was the fact that stung the most with him, the helplessness, from what Bailey had told him, Derek was especially going crazy because he hadn`t been there, he hadn`t helped, he had been useless, and it was eating him up, “After I had to watch Julian being in a fucking coma for a week, I thought that we might actually finally get a chance to find a way to get over this. Logan is dying, Kurt!”, it was the first time, Derek had called him by his given first name, and Kurt could see him crumpling away, “He doesn`t want to live anymore, and when I lose him I have nothing left anymore. Look at him!”, Kurt knew he wasn`t talking about the boy in the hospital bed anymore, “Do you really think there is a way he can live without Logan after this? You have been in the fucking room with them, Kurt.”, it had been a very emotional hour, when Julian had explained in explicit details what had happened in the Art Hall to Derek, and even though, Blaine had felt like intruding, Kurt had forced him to stay in the room with them, because he would have never let them talk about it alone, Julian and Derek were unstable, “I will loose them both, and then I will have nothing left. I will loose the only friends in this world that ever meant more then my own life to me. And there is nothing I can do against it!”, he was close to crying again, hands gripping onto Kurts shoulder, shaking him now and then, while blue eyes calmly looked back at him. Nobody saw Julian jumping to his healthy foot, sepia eyes widened in shock, hands flying to his heart, while he stared down at the bed.

“Guys.”, his outbreak went completely unnoticed in the room that was so much filled with despair and heart wrenching sadness.  
“So don`t you fucking tell me how peaceful he looks, because the only time he will ever look peaceful again is back in Stuart, back in his room, when he and Jules will have finally gotten over this. Peaceful means I already lost him and I can`t think about that, because it hurts.”  
“GUYS!!”, Julian had increased the volume of his scream, but Derek was deaf and Kurt had only his voice ringing in his ears. Nobody saw him frozen in time for some seconds, before the tears silently slipped from his eyes, lips curling into the smallest of smiles.  
“It hurts! It`s pulling me apart from inside, because once again I`m helpless. I can`t shake him awake, I can`t tell him how much he means to me and that I really really need him, that there is still so much to do, to see, too much for him to just die now. I can`t loose him, can`t loose them...”

“DEREK!!”, Julians defining third scream had them both whirl around, Derek stopping mid rant, their eyes caught onto the tears on the actors face, casting down to where his hands were still holding onto the bigger paler ones, and then Derek choked and Kurt had to hold onto him, when the athletes legs threatened to gave out, tears streaming over their own faces now, completely fixed on the two twitching fingers. Kurt was the first to catch himself, he pulled the second chair towards the bed and pushed Derek down upon it.  
“Talk to him, Julian, talk to him!”, he called out, when he raced to the door, stumbling into the corridor, he instantly caught Blaines eyes, and blue watery eyes told him everything, a small smile told him what Kurt couldn`t put into words.  
“I`m sorry, Dad, I have to go.”, he quickly ended the call and ran over to him, Kurt wordlessly pulled him into the room, shutting the door behind them again. Julian had leaned down, both of his hands now holding Logans right one, while Derek had taken the other one, they were both staring at their friends face now, where eyes had started to move behind lids.  
“Oh my god...”, Blaine whispered, pulling Kurt to his chest, not far from them, Julian leaned his forehead against Logans.

“Lo? Can you hear me, Lo?... Come on, wake up, Lo. Everything is going to be okay, now. Just open your eyes for me.”, the actors quiet voice whispered to the blond, eyes were closed now, “Please, Logan, I need you to wake up. Derek and I, we need you to wake up, we need you to be okay again. We need you with us again... Please, come on, squeeze my hand if you can hear me.”, fingers weakly curled around smaller ones, and Julian laughed and cried, Derek dropped his head upon his hands on the bed, and then Logans left fingers also curled around his hands and the womanizer sobbed out in relief.  
“Jules...”, a dry voice croaked out, and Julian laughed again, he leaned back again, bringing Logans hand up until it was cupping his face, and he held it there.  
“I`m here, Lo. Everything is going to be okay now. We`re all going to be okay. Everyone. You and me, and everyone else.”, Derek was a broken down mess at their sides, so Blaine reached out and planted a steady hand on the other boy shoulders, and on the bed green eyes slowly blinked open, and as if there was nothing else in the whole wide world, the first thing they fell upon were sepia brown ones, that he had last seen behind a wall of lickery flames in the Art Hall, before his life had literally turned around and ran up the stairs again.

“Jules...”, and Julian cried and laughed, and just looked so downright happy, Kurt had never seen him like this, taking one hand Julian gently stroked over Logans cheek, the singer closed his eyes for a moment, before he blinked them open again, more strongly, and whether Kurt nor Blaine could put a word to the look in his eyes, there were no words to really describe the joy, the relief, the happiness, “You`re here, Jules.”  
“Yes, I am. I`m here, and I`m okay. And you`ll be okay, too.”, a tear slipped from Logans eye, Julian wiped it away with the tips of his fingers.  
“Why are you crying?”, there was absolutely no one fucking else in the room for him than Julian, just Julian, the rest of the world was completely dead to him, minus maybe the hysterically crying boy on his left side, clutching his hand as a lifeline. Logans right hand slowly stroking over Julians cheekbone, tenderly pushing tears away.  
“I`m just happy, Lo, I`m just happy.”, and when Logan smiled at him, a really loopsided grin, Julian threw his arms around his neck, pushed his face into the crook of his neck and cried, and laughed, and sobbed, because Logan was awake, because now things could get better.

“I`m going to call the twins, let them spread the news.”, Kurt sniffed and nodded to Blaine, when his boyfriend squeezed Dereks shoulder one last time, before he pulled out his phone again and left the room. Kurt wiped his own tears away, and just watched, just watched Logan curling his right arm around Julians waist, holding onto him, his left hand untangling itself from Dereks death grip, placing itself on the dark haired boys head. It took minutes until Julian pulled back again, another minute for Derek to look up, a minute in where Julian and Logan just looked at each other.  
“You`re okay, right? You`re not in pain?”, Derek broke the silence again, Logan shook his head.  
“No pain... just a little tired.”, Logan answered him, eyes turning towards him, “Jesus, you look like crap.”, and now it was Dereks turn to laugh and cry and he pushed his face into the bed sheets again, Kurt padded his back in an awkward gesture, green eyes shortly flickered up to his face.  
“You gave us all quite a scare... Come on, Derek, we`ll get you some coffee. I`m sure Julian and Logan could use a moment alone.”, Julian smiled at him, when he pulled Derek to his feet and tugged him from the room. 

Behind closed doors, Julian sat down on the chair again, one hand still cupping Logans face, whose eyes had barely left his face, so much relief, so much happiness, Julian couldn`t recall a time in which Logan had looked this peaceful and content.  
“Is there really no pain, Lo? You really scared them. And me, hearing that you collapsed on them was really not what I had been expecting to hear when I woke up.”, the actor almost whispered, leaning closer, until his chin was resting on the edge of the bed, Logan turned his head further around until he was comfortable again.  
“I`m sorry.”, his voice, so far from its usual strength, still sent Julians heart into a storm of emotions, after those hours of not knowing if he would ever wake up, not knowing what was keeping him. He smiled at the blond boy, pushing a strand of hair from his face.  
“Don`t be sorry, Lo. It`s going to be okay now, you`ll just have to get better now, we both have to.”, green eyes widened and the hold on his left hand tightened.  
“Are you hurt? Are you in pain?”, the heart monitor picked up its pace, and Julian shushed the other boy, pushing their heads closer together.  
“Shh, Logan, everything is alright. My foot is sprained, and I got some bruised rips, but besides that everything is okay.”, Logans right hand moved up and cold fingers traced the bandage on his throat, Julian closed his eyes.

“I`m so sorry.”, Logans choked up voice brought him out of the horrible memory rather quick, “I`m so sorry. I should have been there, I should have stopped him. I should have seen something, I should have known, I`m so sorry, Jules, I`m so sorry. I should have protected you, I should have been there for you.”, he was positively sobbing, and Julian stood up again, trying to let his hands be everywhere at once, desperately wanting to calm Logan down again.  
“Logan, calm down, I´m fine, I`m okay. It`s gonna be alright, we`re going to be fine. Adam won`t hurt anyone anymore. And it wasn`t your fault.”, but he had lost him, Logan was crying, eyes pressed shut, hands gripping the bed sheets, “Lo, shh, shh. Come on, look at me, please look at me.”, but when Logan reopened his green eyes, they were dazed, looking at him, and not seeing him at the same time, the Stuart prefect flinched heavily and drew back, when he touched his face.  
“NO!”, he screamed suddenly and Julian jumped, “No, no! Julian, come back!”  
“I`m here, Lo, I´m here.”, Julian pleaded, but Logan continued to scream his name, trembling, tears streaming over his face, jerking away, when the actor tried to hold him still, tried to reach for his hands, the door crashed open and Julian caught side of curly hair wipping around, when Blaine rushed over to the bed, “He just went away. I don`t know what happened.”, well aware that he was crying himself now, Julian let himself be pushed back by the smaller Windsor, when Logan only struggled stronger against their hands, without saying anything Blaine pushed the button to call the nurses.

Derek had successfully not calmed down, no matter how much coffee Kurt had forced down his throat in fifteen minutes, he was just a messed up emotional wreck, and nobody could hold it against him, after everything he had done for his friends, he now had to realize that he couldn`t do anything anymore. They walked back to Logans room in silence, Derek continuously trying to wipe his tears away, but when the door to the corridor fell shut behind them, they froze upon the sight before them. Blaine was leaning against the wall across from Logans room, face hidden behind his hands, but what was much more worse was Julian sitting on the ground next to him, both twins kneeling left and right of the completely broken down actor. Derek swayed, and Kurt grabbed his arms to hold both of them together, while they walked over to their friends, fearing the worst.  
“He... They put him back to sleep. He spaced out, apparently he was back in the fire, it freaked him out. The nurse said it`s not unusual, they call it post traumatic stress. They are hoping he will be better when he wakes up again.”, Blaine explained for them, when they were close enough and Derek crumpled, there was nothing better to explain it, his legs just gave out, and if Evan hadn`t jumped up just in time, Kurt wouldn`t have been able to catch him.

“Dad is talking to the doctors right now.”, Ethan said, one arm steadily around the actors shoulders, when Evan and Kurt had somehow managed to lean Derek against the wall next to Julian, Evan staid with him, while Kurt moved up and walked over to Blaine, letting the smaller boy fall against him, “They don`t know if the drugs or Logans medication might have an influence on his state.”  
“Did somebody call his father?”, Evan and Ethan exchanged a look over Dereks head, silently exchanging their opinions on the topic, but before they could speak, Derek was already answering Kurts question, voice cold and devoid of any emotions.  
“I`ve been giving him a call every day to inform him of any changes or lack thereof. He is not going to get any more information until he finally decided if he wants to be in Logans life or not.”, the Stuart stared at the wall across from them, nobody besides the twins knew what had been said between the athlete and the senator, nobody knew just how much Derek had cut beneath the wounds, Kurt suspected that Julian knew more, but at the same time, he would never tell anyone. All they knew was that the senator had taken his wife and himself back to New York after a supposed heated argument with Derek that only Colin Brightman had been able to end, two days later, Ramsey had called them for an assembly in Orion hall and had explained that Dalton would reopen in two weeks and that they were all invited to stay already, nobody would lose their school, the boarding houses and school buildings would be inspected in the next week by experts and if deemed necessary they would be renovated and over spring break, workers would start with a foundation for a new Art Hall.

On the upper east side, John Wright was coming back from a strained and loaded day of work in the office, and with his mind still far away, still back in Ohio, it wasn`t hard to see that he wasn`t feeling well, even for those who didn`t know that his son was in the hospital and he had basically been thrown out of said place. The gray suit was still impeccable in place, but his black tie was loosened, crooked from the start, blond hair was dull and already wild again, by the time he came home, because his hand just kept on pushing through it. His face looked worn from too many sleepless night, green eyes were tired and exhausted, and his mind was completely going crazy and sick with worry. So, when he stepped into his house and hung up his jacket, the only thing he really wanted was to fall into his chair in the living room and call Colin again to see how things were going, what he wasn`t prepared for was his own best friend standing in the foyer, Michelle teary eyed at his sight, cleaning away some tears. The second she saw him, she came running over to him and melted into his arms, with shocked eyes blinking at Ernest, John wound his arms tightly around his wife.

They had reconciled two days after coming back to New York, after Michelle had seen just how much he had realized how wrong his actions had been, how much he was crushed by his regrets, and how worried he really was for Logans life, but she also knew he needed time and that no talking or no apologizes were even slightly possible, before Derek had calmed down and before Logan had woken up. If Logan would wake up...  
“Ernie, what happened?”, his voice betrayed his fears, that something had happened, that Logans state had worsened again, that maybe, everything was already too late and he had lost his only child.  
“Logan woke up.”, and it was like a mountain was falling off his shoulder, John could feel his body keening under the rocks falling away, those were happy tears, Michelle was relieved, Ernest came walking closer, “I was bringing Amanda over, when Colin called ten minutes ago. There were some complications and they had to tranquilize him, because he was confused and apparently convinced that he was back in the fire. He is sleeping again, but it`s not a coma, they are very sure he will wake up during the night and be clear and awake and that he will remember everything. It`s PTS, it was too much for him to battle alone, we both know what it means, we`ve seen it. But Logan woke up, John. He`ll be okay.”, by the time he had finished, Ernest had placed a strong hand on his shoulder and squeezed twice, “Julian and Derek are with him, and nothing and no one will be able to pull them away. Logan is not alone. Michelle said that it`s okay to still leave Amanda with you for the weekend.”, keeping one arm around her waist, John looked down at his wife, when Michelle pulled back, leaning against his side, smiling slightly back at him.

“Of course, it`s okay. I`m happy for the distraction. Is Colin still in the hospital?”, he answered Ernest, pushing his free hand over his face.  
“Yes, and he is waiting for your call... Listen, John, I know it`s not any of my business, but I called Derek yesterday and he is stubborn and thickheaded, but he is only looking out for Logan.”, he appreciated how hesitant his oldest friend sounded, but that he still wasn`t too scared to say his words out loud, because John needed him, his father was still not talking to him and he was halfway convinced that only Logan would be able to change that, Colin was polite, but still exceptionally angry, John had heard it in every word they had exchanged since the incident.  
“I know, and I already told you that he was right, that my behavior was impossible, and I am not only talking about a week ago, I`m talking about the the last five yours of my life.”, Ernest nodded, but the senator could see so much more, could see the relief even in his friends face, Ernest was a family man, had always put his children above everything else and it was about damn time that he did it himself.

“Derek wants to speak with you, I don`t know what Logan waking up changed in that, but he has something he wants to say and I think you should talk to him. He is a good boy, John, and I know he feels sorry for the way he exploded at you. You two need to talk, reasonably with each other, he will call you, but I think it will be a good gesture to call him first.”, nodding again, John told him everything he needed to know, that nobody was angry with how Derek had lost it, that it was about freaking time that somebody had dared to call him out on his bullshit, and that he knew that the ball was in his court now.  
“You got a great son, and you can be proud of him.”, was the verbal reaction he gave the business man, Ernest smiled, leaning down to kiss Michelle’s cheek.  
“And you can be proud of Logan.”, Dereks father patted his shoulder once again, it was off hearing those words out loud, because of course it was true, of course he could be proud of Logan, he was an amazing kid, with so much potential, he had never been a failure.  
“I am, trust me, I am.”, he assured him and Michelle, who beamed up at him, “I`ve always been nothing but proud of him, he grew up to be brilliant, and I missed it, but I will make it up to him and everyone else. Things are going to change.”, it was a promise he had made to himself some days ago, and he had talked for hours with Michelle about it, about his fears that Logan had finally had enough, that he would never want to speak with him again, that Julian and Derek would be enough now. Michelle had only smiled at him and silently told him that Logan would always love him and would wait forever for him to be his Dad again.  
“See you on Monday. I will let myself out.”

The door closed in the background, when John pulled his wife close again, breathing in the smell of her hair, the smell of home and warmth.  
“It`ll be okay, now, John.”, Michelle whispered at him, catching his lips in a quick kiss, “Get right with Derek and no matter how angry Logan might still be, it will be a step in the right direction. I`ll go and get dinner ready, you go and call Colin.”, pushing both hands over his face, he let Michelle pull off his tie and open up the first two buttons of his shirt.  
“Where is Amanda?”, the small girl, a force to be reckoned with, energy like a firestorm, was a pure ray of sunshine and had always been welcome in their home, whenever Ernest and Viola had to attend some business meetings, and now, where Viola was always skipping in and out of the hospital, Michelle had gladly taking her over every second weekend. John adored the whirlwind with brown locks, she was Derek in all ways, just with ribbons and dolls instead of tin soldiers and plastic cars, and she had never cared for how the world had taken him as the big bad evil.

“She is in Logans room, be careful, John. She is not so good at the moment, Ernest just doesn`t know how to explain things to her.”, he nodded in understanding, placing on last kiss on Michelles forehead, he began to walk up the stairs, turning around the corner on the first floor and stopping in front of the white door that led to Logans room. Slowly pulling it open, it revealed Amanda Seigerson sitting in the middle of the large king sized bed by the windows, huddled in the red comforter, she looked up from the pictures in her hands, when she heard the door opening, and the heartbroken look in her face broke Johns heart. Stepping into the room and closing the door behind himself, he walked over to the bed, eyes instantly realizing that the pictures she had in her hand consisted solely on ones about Logan, Julian and Derek from the last three years of their life.  
“Hey, there, princess.”, big brown eyes looked up from her blanket fort, on her left size the big teddy bear with the faded out Dalton tie popped up from she moved her left slightly, instead of a greeting he got a pair of heart wrenching tears pooling up in her eyes.  
“Is Logan gonna be okay?”, rushing over to pull her into his arms and soothing a hand through her hair, he was quick to answer.

“Yes, of course. Logan will be okay, so will Julian and Derek. They`ll be completely fine, Amanda.”, the youngest Seigerson wriggled around until she could look up at him again, but she still leaned against his chest, and John couldn`t believe how good it felt to have someone lay that much trust and comfort in him. Amanda was so different from other children, growing up with her brother as her biggest influence and his two best friends coming in second, even before her own parents, she had never been shy to speak her mind. She was honest, always, being polite in doing so, but you couldn`t fool her, and so, of course she had quickly realized that something had been very wrong, when her parents had come back from Ohio. Adding that she was smarter than the average six year old, she had understood that her brother and her two other protectors had been hurt faster than Ernest had wanted, and with Derek too exhausted and focused on his best friends, steadily worrying about them, he hadn`t been able to take his sisters fears away for once.  
“Why does nobody explain to me what happened? I`m big girl, I can understand.”, she scowled at the picture in her hand that was the biggest, Logan was in the middle, grinning into the camera, both arms around his best friends shoulders, Julian was leaning with his head on his shoulder, smiling brightly, while Derek was smiling, too, but more fondly and lovesick, and there was no argument over who had taken that picture, and why it was apparently one of her favorites, “Can you explain?”

It was the crushed puppy look in her eyes, the one that Michelle was still able to pull him in with, but on Amandas face, it was like the brick wall crashing against you at top speed, halting you in your steps and making you realize that this was a small child sitting before you, who was afraid she would loose the most important people in her whole life, her heroes were hurt and she couldn`t understand what had happened, because superheroes just couldn`t get hurt, and as long as she didn`t understand, there was no way, the hope could come back into her heart. So John took a long deep breath, before he pulled them further up the bed and tucked Amanda safely into the velvet red comforter, and with his eyes safely fixed on the happiness and peace in his sons face on the face from sophomore year, he started telling Amanda about the fire and the resulting events, making it the child friendly version, she needed to know, but not in cruel detail.

“Logan is just sleeping now, he is very tired and very exhausted, and it`s just like when you are sick, you have to sleep a lot, too.”, Amanda had visibly calmed down by the time he had been almost done, and even though he was convinced that her bright smile would only return, when Derek assured her that everything would be okay, this was already better.  
“Are Julian and Derek with him? I hate to be alone, when I am sick.”, she was absentmindedly flipping at her teddys ear, and John smiled.  
“Yeah, they are with him. Listen, princess, I will try and call your brother tomorrow, there are some things we need to talk about together, and when I`m done I will ask him if he has time to talk with you, okay?”, Amanda started nodding, her lips turning into a first small smile, “I can`t promise you a lot more, because your brother is very tired, but I`m sure if it`s possible, he will take any time he has for you.”, small arms curled around his neck and a warm shiver ran over his back, when Amanda pressed her cheek against his, hugging him with her little strength, from downstairs Michelle called for dinner. Amanda untangled herself from the blanket and jumped from the bed, holding out her small hand for him to take, and when he followed her invitation, she pulled him down into the dining room. Leaving it to Michelle to get her seated properly in those big brown chairs, John took his seat at the top of the table.

“Oh.”, Amandas head suddenly whipped up, just as Michelle had sat down, both adults looked at her in surprise, Michelle had noted upon the small girl stepping into the dining room that she was better, more awake and cheerful, Amandas brown eyes looked to her husband, “Thanks for explaining, Uncle John.”, her attention switched to her plate, so Michelle was the only one seeing the shell shocked look in her husbands eyes, green eyes staring at the small girl, feeling her heart blossom, Michelle smiled into her lap, when John could only blink.

By the time night had fallen over them once again, Derek and Julian were the only ones in the hospital, everyone else had gone back to Dalton, trying to catch their breaths, trying to get some energy where nothing could barely be found anymore. Both Stuarts, completely spent, nothing left inside them anymore, hadn`t dared to go back to sleep or even change into another set of clothes, they had rushed back to their friends side the second the nurse had let them in again, keeping vigil at his bedside, while he slept, restless and obviously confused, but the doctor taking a quick look over him around dinnertime assured them that it was a good sign, that Logan was conscious again and working through the haze that had crept upon him. It was already closing in on midnight, when Logan stopped tossing and green eyes blinked into the room again, where it was deadly silent, because after one week constantly on edge at his side, Julian and Derek had finally lost the fight against nature. Both of them out like a stone on the small couch in the corner, the actor leaning against the athlete, so they were unable to see just how clear those green eyes were again. Logan blinked around the room for a moment, before his eyes settled on his friends, lips curling into a small smile, seeing them alright, alive. The couch had been moved since the last time he had laid eyes on the room, standing much closer to the bed now, just close enough that Julians hand was able to lay upon the covers without too much strain, close enough to his own fingers to grasp onto it, but Logan hesitated. Green eyes swept over their faces, seeing the strain, the hours of lost sleep, but they were there, almost without a scratch, he saw the small band aid that Derek still spotted on the side of his head, the bigger one on Julians neck, his left foot in a cast, but he was alright. He was alive, he was still there, breathing and sleeping, and more beautiful than ever before.

His fingers twitched once, but then he slowly wrapped his hand around the actors smaller one, his thumb slowly stroking over the back of his hand. Julian bolted up, eyes snapping open, he whacked Derek until the other boy woke up with a start, and then they were blinking at him, faces full of anticipation and fright.  
“Hey.”, Logan mumbled, blinking right back at them, a little thrown by the intensity of their reaction, “I`m back.”, Julian was crying so fast and so heavily that the only thing Logan could do was catch him when the actor threw himself at him, pushing both arms around his neck, hiding his face in the crook of Logans neck, Derek looking on like a statue.  
“Hey, Jules. It`s okay, it`s okay, I´m okay now. It`s all gonna be okay now.”, he tried to soothe him, keeping his own arms tight around him.  
“You scared the crap out of me. Waking up to hear you were in a coma, that wasn`t part of the plan, you blithering idiot!”, it would have sounded much more menacing, if Julians voice hadn`t been coated by heavy sobs, but still, Logan couldn`t help but laugh, even Derek broke out of his spell and managed a smile.

“I`m okay now. I promise, Jules.”, Logans voice turned soft and quiet very quick again, and his arms tightened around the actor, “I`m awake and I have no intention at all to go away again.”, Julian hiccuped slightly when his sobs faded out and with his tear stained face, he pulled back and looked down at Logan, his arms still around the other boys neck, Logans arm still around him, Derek stared at them in stunned and anticipating silence, the moment of truth had come, he could see it in their faces.  
“I`m so sorry, Lo, I never wanted any of you to get hurt. Least of all you. I was trying to protect you, I wanted to keep you out of this so you would be okay. Adam threatened to hurt you, so many times and no matter what it entailed, I couldn`t let him hurt you.”, green eyes were looking into swimming sepia ones, and they both looked so tired and drained, emotionally overwhelmed, but it had to get out.  
“It`s okay, Jules, it`s okay now.”, Logan whispered, taking one hand and curling it around Julians jaw, his thumb stroking a tear away, “Adam won`t hurt anyone ever again.”  
“Thanks to you.”, Derek reminded them of his presence, both boys looked at him, smiling slightly, “You made sure he didn`t get away with his stupid fantasies, death would have been a salvation, but now he gets the trial he deserves.”, at the mention of deaths Julian had winced, head hanging low again.  
“Derek told me about Harvey. I`m so sorry, Logan.”

“Hey, look at me...”, he coerced, fingers pulling Julians chin up until he was looking at him again, “Harvey went into the fire to save us, to save Dwight. It was his choice, his decision, and no matter the reasons or the people, Harvey would have ran into the building without blinking. He loved us. Every single one of us, and he would have given his life for everyone. It`s not your fault.”, and with huge relief, Derek saw Julian relaxing into the topic, he had tried to talk sense into him concerning his guilt trip over Harveys death, but no matter what he had said, how he had argued, Julian had refused to believe him, but Logan had only needed one try. His words seemed to be more powerful, but Derek wasn`t surprised.  
“Come here.”, Logan shifted and pulled up the blanket, Julian blinked at him and Derek smiled, “You look like shit, I`m not done talking with you for now, but I`m not going on as long as you are not laying down.”, successfully shielding his glowing face from Dereks amused eyes, Julian tiredly made his way around Logans hospital bed, maneuvering his body until he was tugged into Logans side, blanket also thrown over him, the prefects right arm pulling him closer, carefully as not to pull on the IV lines. The actor shifted a little until he was comfortable, head placed on Logans shoulder, hands folded on the other boys chest, right over Logans heart, feeling it beating, knowing he was alive and alright. Derek had flung himself over the coach again, now able to stretch out his limbs.

Some minutes of silence passed between them, not awkward anymore, just time flying by while they tried to find back to their realities, it was Logan, who broke it.  
“I didn`t run in for Kurt...”, he said suddenly, looking up at the ceiling, “Maybe he was a part of my worries, but... I did it for you. I did it because I was scared as hell on what could have happened to you. And... later, when you ran back into the fire, sacrificed yourself for us, I just couldn`t think anymore. It was all gone, as if it wasn`t happening anymore. The only thing I could think of was your back running up the stairs again.”, Derek listened with baited breath, as Logan lowered his gaze again and caught onto Julians eyes, seemed to get lost in them.  
“I didn`t know there was a landing pad. I jumped because I didn`t want to die in there. I didn`t want to die in that horror movie. It couldn`t end in a nightmare.”, it rushed from Julians in one giant wave, left Derek to cope with frozen limbs, Logan didn`t seem too surprised, “I couldn`t die in there, I couldn`t let Adam get what he wanted. I needed to get him, get myself out of there, so I jumped.”, and when it was out, Julian waited, waited for their reactions, for them to say anything, but Derek just couldn`t think of anything reassuring anymore, he was done, nothing left inside him anymore. So it was Logan, who took the comforting job, pulled Julian closer again and placed a kiss upon his forehead.  
“We`re here now. That is what is important. It doesn`t matter how we got here. We`re here together again. And we´ll only look forward from here on.”, his words ended with a huge jawn, that took over to his two best friends, “And we´ll start right off with sleeping. Face the world tomorrow. I`m tired.”

When Ethan and Evan were finally satisfied with their numerous phone conversations and had sneaked around the nurses, they poked their head into the room of the Stuart boy again, both smiling instantly upon the sight that greeted them. Ethan closed the door silently, while his twin was already moving to the coach, pulling up the blanket and throwing it over the athlete, passed out on it.   
“Do you think they are going to make it?”, Ethan whispered in question, nodding to the other two boys, the skinny actor, arms curled around Logans torso, for once his face was relaxed, giving in to sleep, giving in to gaining new strengths, Logans heartbeat just inches from his head, one hand had curled itself around the prefects right one. Logans other arm was holding onto Julian, head turned to face him even in his sleep, they looked peaceful.  
“I think they will get out of this even stronger than before.”, Evan answered him, when he switched off the light and moved to stay with his brother again, “Let`s make sure the nurses won´t try and pull them away.”  
“And make sure they don`t disturb them at all. I really hope they work it out.”  
“Look at him, Eth. Do you really think he will let him go again? Logan hasn`t always made the best and smartest decisions, but this time, I firmly believe that he knows what he wants and that it is the best for him. They`ll fight, but it wouldn`t be them if they weren`t.”  
“You´re right. Let`s plug Derek away in the morning, so they`ll have some time alone, and the king of hearts dearly needs a shower and a time out.”

“The doctors are proposing trauma therapy, but well, we both know Logan will never agree to that, and I can completely understand him in that. He`s had a lot of people trying to get into his head and it has never worked out good for him in the end until this day.”, with only the lamp on his desk spending light, John was sitting in an almost pitch black study back in New York, having reached Colin way into the night, the rest of the house was silent, Michelle was asleep and Amanda completely out in Logans bed, having found some energy to crush him in every board game they possessed after dinner.  
“Logan doesn`t need to speak to specialists, I`ve forced him to often enough. Julian, Derek and him will work this out alone, and if they still need help, they will go to the persons they deem confidential.”, flipping over the folders on his laptops, John narrowed his eyes, when he found a music file in an ancient folder with old childhood pictures, Michelle had scanned in for him some months back, opening his player, he copied it over.  
“That`s basically what I`ve told them. I crossed the pill path out as you told me to, Logan doesn`t need that either. He`ll be alright, John.”, Colin sounded tired, so John decided to cut it short, he had already thanked him day by day for taking care of his son, he couldn`t voice his gratitude anymore, he was running out of words.  
“How are your boys doing?”, Colin sighed and chuckled, while John let the mouse hover over the play button.

“They are driving me crazy and the nurses, too. I think they will be the happiest when Logan gets discharged, because they`ll get rid of the twins.”, John smiled, “I have to go now, I have to force my boys from the hospital and let them get some sleep. I`ll call you tomorrow. Bye.”, John said his goodbyes quickly and when Colin had hung up, he pushed his phone away and clicked play, nothing could have prepared him for what came next.  
“Daddy, daddy, are you listening?”, Logans voice reached his ears, but it was his four year old self cheering into whatever voice recorder they had had back then, “Gia and I want to play something for you.”, Gia, who had really been called Julia, had been Logans nanny after Cordelia had left them one night and John had been too overwhelmed with suddenly being a single parent and running for the senator office, his younger self must have nodded, because the piano started playing, flawlessly, as always, Logan had never been anything but perfect with it. He doesn`t know how exactly it happened, but it was within moments of his sons childlike voice filling his ears with the lyrics and harmonies of scales and arpeggios from the Aristocats movie, that he broke down, burying his face in his hands, he let those tears fall down. He didn`t even hear Julia singing along, all he heard was his beautiful and precious baby boy singing for him and smiling his bright smile for the first time since his mother had left them, and all just because, he was listening to him play, all because he had looked so damn proud of him in that moment, and Logan had known how much he had loved him. And he couldn`t shake that look in those green eyes, so much hope for the future, so much love to give, and now all that was left were ruins.


	4. Confessions

The sky over Dalton was blue, cloudless and filled with a sun rising for a beautiful and warm day of hope. Hope for a new start. The school was still not running with lessons and teachers had assembled for a course in trauma therapy to be ready, when school would start up again in some days. Ramsey had locked herself in her office and was constantly on the phone with somebody, talking, talking, talking, her desk filled with papers and all kinds of documents that needed to be shipped off to god knows where to let Dalton move on from the fire. Her students had already taken the worst and most exhausting task from her hand, all houses united had started to tidy up their houses and their school, and aside from the Art Hall ruins, Dalton looked as if nothing had ever happened, and they needed it, they needed the normalcy back. Constructions workers were scheduled to arrive in a weeks time to start with a foundation for a new Art Hall, and when a new plan for a building had been found, they would immediately continue, the money was coming from the legacies.

Charlie was racing down the corridors, throwing his lean body around corners, quicker than possible and at an angle that was almost humanly impossible, but he only pushed his legs further whenever he found a straight pathway, hands blindly throwing doors open, not noticing the slamming sound of them falling shut behind him again. His shoes thundered on the stones, when he reached the grounds, taking the path to the ruins of the Art Hall, he let his lips curl into a smile, the first really true one since days. Most of the working boys didn`t take a lot of notice of him, focused on breaking down more parts of the old building, shuffling away the dirt, pushing ashes away, students of all houses were working together, united at last, and if his news weren`t so good, he would have stopped to admire the view for a second. All those snobby precious rich boys covered in dirt and sweat, only Kurt and Reed perched upon a tree branch at the side were almost clean, looking over clipboards. The Windsor prefect didn`t stop his maniac running until he had all but assaulted Justin Bancroft, startling the Hanover so much that he lost his balance and dropped the wood he had been carrying upon Spencer, knocking his friend straight to the ground.

“Fuck, Chaz, what the bloody hell?”, the other prefect cursed into the round, bracing himself against one of the last standing walls, when Charlie wouldn`t stop shaking his arm. Blaine and Danny, who had hurried to pull Spencer to his feet again, looked at the Windsor prefect with worried eyes, “What is wrong with you? You can`t just go and attack people like... Why are you grinning?”, Justins rant quickly detoriated, because seeing Charlie honestly smile like that threw him off for a moment, they had both barely closed an eye all week for more than two hours.  
“He is awake... Logan is awake.”, and everybody stopped working, Blaine stared at him, “Awake and conscious and he knows what happened. There are no black spots in his memory, he could recall in sickening detail what happened in the Art Hall. I just got of the phone with Ethan, they want to do more tests and make sure he still recovers, but he might be out of the hospital in two days. Ethan and Evan are coming back later, they are going to more or less force Derek to come with them, because he is completely dead on his feet, so I hope Stuart is ready.”, Bailey and Thad exchanged a quick look, when Charlie fixed them with a questioning glance, but then they nodded.

Marcus had drilled them like a staff sergeant, channeling Derek a little too good for it not to seem weird, Stuart looked as if nothing ever happened, no signs of past struggles.  
“So, this actually means that whatever episode he had, it was just a one time thing?”, Blaine was eager for details, he hadn´t had one second of sleep this last night, always seeing the terror in Logans eyes and the helplessness in Julians, it had driven him crazy.  
“It seems so.”, Charlie answered him, and the collected relieved sigh went through the rounds, “Okay, let`s get back to work.”, the boys groaned, but started to shuffle around again, so Charlie was left with only Justin at his side, his friend, who had turned really quiet again, starring off into space, so that Charlie had to squeeze his shoulders really hard to let him snap out of it, “J?”  
“I`m fine.”, which he absolutely wasn`t, and it was easy to see for his best friend of three years, Charlie knew that Justin hadn`t slept properly at all since the fire, that he woke up screaming every night.  
Pulling the other prefect away from the other boys, Charlie pushed Justin onto a bench, water bottle already in his hand, not seeing that behind their backs, Spencer and Danny exchanged a very pronounced look with Merril, who was sorting through some blackened drawings they had found in a broken cupboard.  
“You`ll take a break.”, uncapping the water bottle, Charlie glared down at those blue eyes, that looked so tired, so exhausted, he was just done with everything, in physical and emotional sense, but above all Justin was stubborn, and he was so hell bend on not showing weakness, already showing again, when Hanovers prefect crossed his arms over his chest and looked away. Charlie sighed, threw a quick look up, catching Dwights and Lauras eyes over the distance, they were just as worried as him. Offering the water bottle to his friend, Charlie crouched down and roughly grabbed Justins chin, forcing him to look into his eyes, “Do it for me.”

“Chaz...”, Justins reply was quiet, defeated and Charlie hated it, because this wasn`t his best friend, this was like a ghost of him, he was even too tired to be stubborn, thinking that he had finally broken through Justins wall, Charlie pushed just a little further, hoping to get to him.  
“No, you will sit here and drink some water. You need to catch a break, J.”, and he went too far.  
“No, what I need is work.”, Justin roughly pushed the water bottle away and went to stand up again, walls flying up quicker than he could have reacted, but Charlie gritted his teeth, and pushed him back down again, blue eyes burning into lighter ones, he had enough, he hadn`t slept in two days himself and this was making him crazy. He didn`t even know where to be himself, because his whole house was completely unstable, and not being able to be there for the twins was eating him up, because he knew how much they were shaken up and how much they were hiding it, just to make sure that the red trio was okay. He needed Justin, needed him to give him a clear head and to be the one to yell at him to get some rest. He couldn`t be the responsible one with him, because Justin was the moral one, he had the higher ground on everything.

“Yeah, to distract you. Justin, Logan is okay, so is Julian. They will be back with us soon enough.”  
“If nothing else happens.”, Justin was mumbling under his breath, something he never did unless he was either sick or really upset, because his father had made it difficult again, Charlie knew that Bancroft Senior hadn`t spoken to his son since the fire, so he quickly snatched up his hand and placed it on Justins forehead, using his other hand to push his friends hands away, when the Hanover boy tried to wriggle away. It was as he had expected, he was clammy and dare he say, even hot. Clicking his tongue, Charlie looked down at Justin with a stern look.  
“Alright, that`s it, you`re done for the day.”, wrenching him up by his left arm, Justin stumbled and had to grab onto Charlies shoulder to gain back his balance, when his vision blurred.  
“Chaz...”, but Charlie completely ignored him, looking back to the working boys, he singled out Spencers head, “Spence!”, snapping his head up, the Hanover boy looked over to them, narrowing his eyes quickly, when he saw how crappy his prefect looked, Justin couldn`t hold up the facade anymore, he felt horrible, he felt sick.

Ten minutes later, Spencer and Charlie had pulled Justin back to Hanover and successfully tucked him into his bed, after they had made sure he had emptied at least one bottle of water.  
“You are completely overreacting.”, Justin muttered under his breath, sticking his chin under the blanket, when Charlie threw another comforter over his feet and send a death glare in his direction.  
“You are burning up, J. You will stay in that bed until the fever broke, or so help me god, I will call Sidney and tell her to make sure you stay put.”, Charlie threatened and Spencer, sitting on the rocking chair in the corner of Justins single room, chuckled.  
“She would have a field day with it.”, he declared, flipping over another page of the magazine he had found on Justins desk, blue eyes tried to place a menacing glare on him, but failed horribly, when Justin was suddenly caught in a coughing fit.  
“Spence, can you see if Merril could make a soup or something.” even though Spencer nodded and jumped right to his feet, Justin had the impression that it was just Charlies excuse to be alone with him, and it happened, what should have probably happened days ago.

Charlie sat down on the edge of his bed, pulling up his legs to sit cross legged, when Justin moved a bit to the side, and then he pushed both hands over his face again, Justin couldn`t even remember a time, where that gesture hadn`t been glued to Charlie.  
“I think it is time we talk, it is painfully overdue and now where I got you here pretty defenseless, I can finally start without you running away again.”, in that second Justin really hated his best friend, because he knew that Charlie had prayed for a moment like this, he had become a pro at evading such one on one time, just because he didn`t want to talk, he wanted to forget during the day, the nightmares were enough, reminding him again and again of how much he had failed everyone. Charlie must have seen the flicker of hurt cross his face, because he leaned closer.  
"Stop it. Stop the guilt trip, stop blaming yourself. It wasn`t your fault. You hear me? Not. Your. Fault. Nobody could have seen how sick he really was. We tried, alright? We all tried to stop what happened, but we couldn`t. People got hurt, but we will all heal. None of this is your fault, J, so please just stop feeling guilty." 

“I can`t.”, what was supposed to come out as a scream, ended up as a choked up cry, “I can`t, Chaz! I can`t let this go, I can`t move on and not think about it. He was a part of my house, my sister tried to warn me about him. There were like a thousand signs, now where I look back. And that`s the worse part.”, his voice was breaking, “I should have seen something. It`s my job, Charlie, it´s my fucking job to take care of these boys, and I didn`t.”, Charlie didn`t know what to say anymore, after so much talking with Dwight, with Reed, with the twins, with Blaine, he was just emotionally unable to help his best friend, because Justin was physically shutting himself off, he was pushing so hard to let no one in.  
“I`m calling Sidney, and you won`t change my mind. Maybe she has a better chance at getting you to listen. I want to help so badly, J, but, I just can`t. I`m so tired.”, Justin reached for his hand and squeezed once, way too weak, but Charlie still smiled back at him.  
“I know, Chaz. I know.”

When Merril opened the door to Justins room twenty minutes later to see for herself if soup was really the best option, or if it would better to send someone running to Miss Summers to get some cold medicine, both boys in the room were sound asleep. Justin in his bed, passed out under the mountains of blankets, and Charlie on the couch next to the bed, one hand still holding a wet towel. Merril smiled to herself, much more relieved upon the sight than truly expected, they had worked like maniacs to get everything up and running in the school, there hadn`t been a moment, where she hadn`t seen Charlie or Justin busy with the school board, busy with telling the other students were they could help, helping out themselves all the time, always reaching out to the younger ones, always ready to lend a listening ear, to assure that everything would be okay, that all they needed was time to heal now. Both prefects had never given themselves a moment of peace, she wasn`t stupid, she was living in the room next to Justins, she was able to hear the choked up gasps and sometimes even the muffled screams, when he woke up from the nightmares, but she knew he needed to let someone in, his walls would only get thicker if they would push it on him. Moving into the room, she pulled the towel from Charlies hands, and pulled a blanket from Justins cocoon, throwing it over Windsors prefect.

Someone knocked quietly on the door and Merril turned around, sending a smile in Sidney Willis direction, “Hey, seems like they were more exhausted than we initially thought. I`ll go and tell Blaine and Danny to take up responsibility for the rest of the day.”, Sidney smiled and went towards the rocking chair, pulling out a book from her bag as she went.  
“I send some help over. Hope will come up in some minutes, we`ll watch them.”, the Dobry girl promised Hanovers lady and Merril smiled, “Get some rest yourself, they need you as much as they need Justin.”  
“I`ll cook, it gives me rest. Thanks for coming, Sid.”, leaning back on the chair, Sidney pulled up her page and send one last smile towards the girl with the long brown curls, Merril left the room and went back into the kitchen.

In Stuart House Derek halted in the door frame of the common room, brown eyes blinking at the lack of books flying around or pens having been forgotten on desks, there wasn`t even a pillow out of order, it looked so freakishly tidied up as he had never seen it. Deciding against stepping into the room, he turned on the spot and walked back towards the kitchen.  
“Marcus.”, he called out, before his eyes had even spotted the other boy, but of course he knew where to find him, screwdriver in hand the other Stuart boy was sitting on the bench in the corner, one half of one of the coffee machine in his hands, the other on the counter next to him. Marcus Holland looked up, when Stuarts returned number two walked into the kitchen, eyes shortly blinking close, when that overwhelming smell of coffee penetrated his senses. It was good to be back home, the twins had stormed upon him like a hurricane, when they had been awake again, he had barely had time to say a proper goodbye to Logan and Julian cuddled up on the bed, before the twins had physically dragged him from the room, so crazy intend on going back to Dalton that it freaked Derek out all the way back to their school.  
“Derek.”, screwdriver forgotten, Marcus quickly got to his feet, placing the broken coffee machine on the table again, “Jesus, you look like shit. They sure didn`t sugarcoat it at all. Come on, you are going to lay down.”, apparently it was the motto of the day to not let him get a word in, because before he had even finished speaking, Marcus was pulling him out of the kitchen, down the corridor and up the stairs into the anteroom.

Letting him at least swipe the keycard himself, Marcus waited patiently until Derek had opened the door to his own room, “Take a shower and get some rest. Clark Sawyer wants to speak to you, when you are awake again. Sonic is fed and asleep, as is Pavarotti. The rest of the house is out in the ruins, helping with cleaning up. I am downstairs if you need anything.”, and even though Derek stared at him dumbfounded and open mouthed, Marcus smiled at him and closed the door on his way out, leaving Derek blinking at the poster on the back of his door.  
“What the hell... who gave you all the control...”, muttering some more pronounced words under his breath, Derek pulled his shirt over his head and went towards the bathroom. Once inside, he shed himself of the rest of his clothes and stepped into the shower, closing his eyes, when the hot water hit his body. It was like a rebirth, he soaked up the warmth, soaked up the hope and the peace. Giving himself at least half an hour under the water, Derek dried himself up quickly afterwards and only slipped on a new pair of boxers, before he slipped under the blankets of his own bed and was out cold like a stone the second his head hit the pillow. The body and mind always took what it needed.

In the hospital Julian had only left Logans side shortly during ward rounds, but had been back on the foot of his bed the second the last nurse had left the room, only to step out again, when Colin Brightman had turned up and had wanted to talk to Logan alone, and he was still waiting outside his friends room, when Colin came back outside fifteen minutes later.  
“Thank you for your patience, Mister Larson.”, reaching for his crutches, Julian pushed himself from the chair again.  
“It`s okay. Is everything alright?”, he wanted to know, just that little bit itchy, he felt uncomfortable to leave Logan alone at the moment, he just was so quiet and calm, he looked weak and defeated and Julian hated to see him like that. He would rather see Logan rage and scream instead of tired.  
“Yeah, everything is fine. I just wanted to talk to him about something, I`m sure he will explain it to you once you`re back inside.”, the twins father told him with a small smile, “I need to fly back to New York, now where everything is on track again. I believe I can leave Logan in Dereks and your hands?”, it felt more like a demand than a question, so Julian was quick to assure him of that wish.  
“Yeah, we`ll take care of him, won`t leave him out of our sight for more than necessary.”, and he would, it was an unspoken agreement between him and Derek, Logan would never have to push himself so far again, none of them would, they would need to find an agreement between the three of them. No more secrets, no more lies, they needed to be brutally honest with each other from now on. He had always been the one to break the most friendship promises, but now Julian knew how much needed to change, that he needed his two best friends back, to be strong for him, to be strong for them. They were a trio, and it was about damn time that they acted like one again.  
“That`s what I thought.”, Colin made to leave, but then he hesitated and Julian thought he looked unconvinced for a moment, but then he turned back to the actor, “John feels bad about what he did, Julian. I know it`s a long way to go, but... don`t let Logan loose hope.”, Julian nodded and then watched, how the business man and their current board leader walked down the corridor and vanished around the corner.

He didn`t waste another moment then and walked back inside Logans room, where the prefect was frowning down at a piece of paper in his hands, the logo of the hospital and the color of the paper told Julian that it was the diagnosis report, something he had gotten some days back. There hadn`t been anything surprising in it, Julian had been aware of his injuries, the more disturbing it was now to watch Logan with that unsettled expression on his face.  
“Lo?”, slowly looking up from the report, Julian relaxed again, when green eyes found his own and those rosy lips curled into a smile.  
“Come here.”, patting the space next to himself on the bed, Logan placed the report back on the small table, while Julian limped over to him and climbed back on the back, leaning against his best friend.  
“Colin Brightman said you might want to explain something.”, Logan sighed and closed his eyes next to him, falling back into the pillows, taking one hand to lightly pull on Julians shoulder so that he also laid back down, instinctively turning onto his side to look at Logan again.  
“That collapse... it was more serious than previously thought.”  
“What do you mean?”, Logan slowly curled the fingers of his left hand through his right ones and placed them over Julians heart.  
“It stopped.”, when Julian went to question his words again, eyebrows pulling together, Logan put more pressure on his fingers, “It stopped. For fifteen seconds.”, Julians fingers instantly tightened over Logans, his own heart started racing as if proving that it was still strong.

"My heart stopped beating, Julian. For fifteen seconds, I was dead.", Julians eyes dropped close and his left hand quickly grabbed onto Logans shirt, nesting his fingers through the fabric, pressing down on the skin on Logans chest, feeling the strong heartbeat beneath his fingertips. Logan noticed it of course, and in response, he curled his arm tighter around Julians waist.   
“I`m not invincible. Not as strong as you think I am, Jules.”  
“You`re stronger than me.”, Julian whispered, his hand still on Logans heart, the prefect stroked a strand of hair from his face.  
“No, I`m not, and you know that. You are so much stronger than I could ever be. With everything you went through, for you to still sit here and be okay... that is being strong, Jules.”, Julian pushed himself upright, so he could look into Logans eyes more easily, he was okay, he was right there and he was alright, his heart was beating, right there under his fingertips, “I`m fine. And you´re okay, and so is everyone else. We got out of this, and that is what counts right now. Let`s don´t dwell on what could have been, let`s focus on right now. You`re here, and I am so happy that you are. We fought so hard, okay, it`s time to rest, time to let our walls down.”, Julian nodded, his own heart skipped a beat, when he saw that raw compassion in Logans green eyes, that spark of whatever emotion was flooding his blood, “I know you think I never cared, but I did. I cared about you, I always did, and I should have shown it, I should have listened to it and I should have let you talk. So, if you can, I want you to tell me, everything from the last three years that staid unspoken and I will listen, because... I care about you.”, a single tear fell from Logans left eye and Julian quickly wiped it away, “I want to hear your voice, Julian.”, and the actor smiled, leaned down to place a chaste kiss on Logans forehead and then jumped right into it, because this was pure, this was the friend he had searched for in that angry teenage boy, this was freshman year Logan, this was his best friend and the boy he had fallen in love to, the boy who wanted to hear the story now.  
In New Yorks upper east side, the morning had started very quietly, Amanda had still slept peacefully, when Michelle had gone down to fetch the newspaper and start making breakfast. Her own night had been unsettled, John hadn`t come to bed until two in the night, and even then he had still been crying. Freaked out, because she had never seen her husband this desolated, Michelle had tried to comfort him, while at the same time wanting to know what had happened, she had needed at least an hour of soothing words and warm hands to calm him down again. She had been scared, because John had never been that broken, but whatever had triggered it, the breakdown had been coming since the fire, especially after Logan had been hospitalized. She was worried about her stepson, but even more so for her husband, Logan had a whole school behind his back now, John felt more alone than ever. Once the tears had stopped, he had talked, for hours, told her about his regrets, of how he had given up, when his son had needed him the most and how he would fix it all. He had promised her everything would change, that they would be a family again, and with her curled up in his arms, John had finally found some sleep.

Both men in her life were terribly stubborn, but they were good people and she hoped they would work out the mistakes they had both made and be able to move on. Together. Smiling at the boys from next door, who were screwing around on their bikes, she pulled the newspaper inside and closed the front door again, making her way into the kitchen. She knew Johns coffee needed to be stronger than usual this morning, humming to herself, she set the table for three, knowing that Amanda could pop up at every second now, bright and smiling, all sunshine and energy, maybe it would do John some good to spend the day with them. It was physically impossible to be sad around that little angel.

Half an hour later, John came into the kitchen, looking slightly better than last night, blond hair still wet from his shower, wearing only worn out jeans and a simple red shirt. Coming to stand behind her, where she was flipping the pancakes, he sneaked an arm around her waist and placed a kiss upon her cheek.  
“Morning.”, she cooed back at him, leaning back against his chest, she smiled, relieved that he seemed to feel better. What she didn`t know was that John actually felt a lot better, last night had been like a catalyst for him, freeing him of the hopelessness, he had always been a fighter and even though he had made horrible mistakes and had done so much to stop his son from ever finding happiness, from now on, he wouldn`t stop fighting until he had his family back together. Until his family would finally be happy, with the future they wanted, and not the one someone else tried to force upon them. Things would change, immensely, it started with him and if it went after his liking, it would end with New York City.

Behind them the door clicked open and they turned around to see a small face peeking inside, hair all wild, but the grin on her face was blinding white and happy.  
“Good morning, sweetie.”, Michelle greeted her and Amanda bounced into the room, wearing a red summer dress with a white belt, John wasn`t surprised, Ernest had told him some time back that Amandas wardrobe had shifted into pink and red/white assembles since Derek went to Dalton, she was nothing if not fiercely loyal, Stuarts worthy princess.  
“Morning.”, Amanda sang, showing the hairbrush and the two hair ties, “Can you braid my hair?”  
“Well, of course.”, John picked her up and swung her upon the counter, when Amanda skipped over to them, Michelle and John switched places then, and the bubbly blond woman took the hairbrush from Amanda.  
“Hui, pancakes.”, John grinned, when Amandas sweet voice called out, turning to look at her.  
“Do you like them?”, he wanted to know, feeling like it was unnecessary, which kid didn`t like pancakes, and as expected Amanda nodded, whole face beaming, while Michelle worked her finger through her hair, pulling it into a French braid.  
“Yes. Logan always makes them for us, when Julian and him come to the Hamptons with us. Derek can`t do them.”, she scrunched up her small nose, “Or at least, he says he can`t. He wants us to eat healthy.”, Michelle chuckled, and John smiled.

“Well, Julian has a sweet tooth. I`m sure he likes it, when there are pancakes.”, Amanda snickered and smiled up at her, when Michelle let the end of her finished braid bop onto her shoulder.  
“Yoyo always draws a smiley on Juli`s pancakes, and he makes a crown for me.”, taking over from her husband again, Michelle flipped another set of pancakes, while John carried Amanda over to the table, setting her on one of the metallic chairs. Logans and Julians nickname were well known to them, Amanda barely used their real names, and if she did, she was either really upset or worried.  
“And your brother?”  
“Derek only eats cereals.”, Amanda declared, the word falling like venom from her lips, John laughed and sat down next to her, taking the newspaper, he let his eyes quickly roam over the headlines, “He says, sugar isn`t good for him.”

“Can we go outside today?”, Amandas innocent question had John look up from his article and Michelle from her coffee, both of them exchanging a look and quickly going over their schedule in their minds.  
“You can come with me to the Met gala preparations and we`ll go to the park afterwards...”, Michelle proposed, Cecil had called yesterday and told her about the wrongly delivered menu cards, Michelle, who had already been going crazy about everything that had gone wrong, had told her to get her act together and get it fixed, before she was coming down there today. Her proposal was offered hesitantly, because Amanda wasn`t so keen on staying in museums, not allowed to touch anything and patiently waiting until someone could play with her, she was a child of action. The only ones who would be able to get her to be quiet and patient and excited in a museum would be Logan, Julian and of course her brother, because their crazy minds would come up with god knows how many fake stories about the paintings and the art to keep her entertained. But this time, it was John who saved her, surprising her, because she had thought that after last night, the only thing he would do today was think and rest, but as it seemed he had other plans.  
“You know what.”, he started, pushing the newspaper away, there hadn`t been anything interesting inside anyway, the article about the new state attorney was short, way less information than John had hoped for, “How about we go to Central Park, take a blanket, take something to drink. We could take a trip over the lake, maybe you even meet some of your friends on the playground there.”

The latter was highly impossible, after Ernest had moved his wife and his daughter back into the city some weeks ago, Amanda had not been as quick as otherwise known to find new friends, she got along with the other children in her class, but she still mostly kept to herself. Something unusual, and they all hoped it would change soon enough.  
“Do you really have time?”, John knew that Michelle’s question really was, if he felt up to it, but he nodded, smiling at her, it would be good to clear his head, get away for a day, and Amanda was grinning so brightly and so excitedly up at him that he would have never dared to say no.  
“Yes, there is nothing that can`t wait until Monday.”

Back in Dalton, Derek had been awake for some minutes, shifting through what Marcus had apparently named the to-do-catalogue, Blaine had told him on one of his daily visits, while Logan had still been asleep, that Ramsey had ordered them to take a look around their houses and make a list with things that needed to be updated, they had also been visited by a group of architects who had made their own lists with necessary renovations. It only figured that Stuarts list had made its way into Marcus Hollands hands, to say he was detailed was the understatement of a century. It knocked on his door, when Derek had reached the point where throwing the paper around seemed like more fun than reading them.  
“Just a second.”, he called out, standing up to look for a shirt and some jeans, he opened his door, only to reveal Clark Sawyers face, blue eyes cautiously looking back at him, “Hi.”  
“I hope I didn`t wake you.”, waving the actor inside, Derek shook his head and closed his door again, gesturing for Clark to sit down wherever he wanted to.  
“No, I was already up. Marcus said you wanted to talk with me? Wouldn`t you rather talk with Julian?”, Clark laughed once and pushed a hand over his face, Derek wondered what he had missed now, Julian had sometimes typed furiously away on his phone in the last week, but he had never looked as if he had wanted to talk about it, so Derek had let it pass.

“I think, I might have pissed him off. I need to talk to him, because I honestly don`t understand anything anymore. And he keeps pushing us away.”  
“Us?”  
“I know for a fact that Marcie and Isabelle have both tried numerous times to reach him, but he flipped them off every time. The only one he listens to is Cameron.”, who had called him so long and persistently that Derek had forced him to take the call, and slowly Derek realized what this was about. Travis Armstrong had cancelled all upcoming interviews, photoshoots or casting calls for his son, they all wanted to keep Julian away from Hollywood for a while, the actor himself the most, at least until the hurricane that was Dolce Larson had passed over. Julians mother was brooding in the dark, no one had heard a word from her since she had left Ohio, which no one saw as a good sign, and Travis wanted to keep the damage to a minimum in case his ex wife did decide to spill her stories to the press. And with that all came the fact that Julian would not return to film for Something Damaged until further notice, and it was Cameron who had advised him to do so until the young actor felt fit again. Funnily enough, Logan had agreed with him this morning.

“Listen.”, Derek pushed a hand over his face and rummaged around his jacket to find his phone, checking for the time, “I know you are confused and worried, but Julian is okay, for now anyway, and it`s great that you came to me, but I won`t be able to pry him away from Logan.”, Derek wasn`t blind, nor was he stupid, he knew he had to be patient, but there was no one on this planet that wanted Julian and Logan to realize the truth more than him. The truth that they were perfect for each other. He saw the looks Logan kept giving him all morning, the way he had always had at least a hand on him, and Julian wasn`t any better, they were scared to let go of each other, and it had to mean something, “You can come with me to the hospital, try your luck with him, but I know that you won`t be able to talk with him until they are both back in Dalton. If you know Julian half as good as I do, than you know that he pushes you away the more you try to force something on him. I`m driving to the hospital in ten minutes, it`s your call.”

In the hospital, Logan had pushed both hands over his face, Julian was sitting on the bed across from him, legs tugged underneath his body, even with his injured foot, their little talk had reached the love confession in the Art Hall, and Julian was patiently waiting for Logan to say something, even when it was gnawing at him. Logan could see how much the actor had to restrain himself to hold back, he was biting his lips and twisting his hands around. He had tried to explain as good as possible why he had never said a thing, why he was so afraid that saying one word might ruin everything they had built up in their friendship. That he had never thought that Logan might feel anything close to what he felt, that he would never care enough, and oh, how wrong he had been, and oh, how much it hurt to know what could have been, and so Logan raised his eyes back up and took a deep breath, now, it was his time to talk.

“Jules, I thought you were straight.”, Julian went to open his mouth, but Logan placed a finger on his lips and send him a stern glance, “Straight, Julian. You know, dating girls, being Americas sweet little angel child star. And if middle school taught me anything, then that straight teenage boys usually stay the hell away from the gay kids, because for one, they think hanging out with you will instantly turn you gay as well, and secondly, being friends with them means they will hit on you. When I got out, I lost everyone, every single friend I ever had in New York, except for Evan and Ethan, but they had stuck around since before we could even speak. I knew I would always have them, but boys hated me, avoided me like the plague, because I was proud enough to be what I am. They were afraid I would make the moves on them. And when that nightmare school chapter finally was over, I swore to myself that Dalton was going to be a fresh start, a more accepting place, and I was right. Not only did I meet Derek again, but I also found you. I knew I didn`t need to be afraid with what Derek might say, we knew each other long enough, we had seen each other multiple times over the years, Derek knew who I was. But you were different, you were famous, Jules, and damn I was so amazed that you wanted to be my friend. Besides all that our families are ruined and our Dads are in the spotlight drama, you were cool, you were funny, you were not scared to be my friend, to tell me off and at the same time do the smallest most normal things like a hug, like a pat on the shoulder, giving comfort. And that even after I got out to you. You treated me like a real best friend. Treated me like I was just one normal teenage boy that was your friend.”  
“But you were...”

“No, I wasn`t, not in my eyes. Julian, you were the first person to show me that it was okay to be me, alright? The first new friend I had found who wanted to stick around. Ethan, Evan and Derek had been there from the start, but you flipped into this whole mess... So, when we got comfortable around each other and I started noticing that I really felt way too comfortable around you, started realizing how beautiful you are and how much I loved to make you smile, I hit a brick wall. It all came to a screeching halt, because I had done the one thing that I had sworn myself to never do. I was crushing on my straight best friend, I did the one thing that you are not supposed to do. And I freaked out, I didn`t know what to do, how to put a stop to it. And so, I did everything I could come up with to push you away, because never seeing you again was easier than thinking about what a mess I was about to make if I told you how I was feeling. But you were stubborn, staid and fought back, just never asked me what was going on. And then I changed course, I was too selfish, I didn`t want to loose you as a friend, I pushed my feelings back, far, far away, in a cage locked with millions of keys. It never worked, not completely, Blaine, Josh, Kurt, they`ve all been distractions. I got so good at this whole blending myself scheme, that my heart was looking out for someone else, someone to fill the void. I know it was wrong, I should have been brave enough to approach you, to not keep silent about this, and now to know that you of all people were walking on the same path, too scared to come out, it`s just... it pains me to know what could have been, what we could have been these last three years.”, Julians heart began racing, Logan was so close, one finger still on his lips, green eyes so powerful, “Because for me... it was buried, under mountains of regret and anxieties, and anger, but it never stopped, Julian. Not for me. You were always the one for me.”

And when it happens then, it`s just downright perfect, there are no tears involved, no pressure and no one else intruding on their privacy, it was just them, after almost three years of running along the same path, but never seeing each other, just too focused on the finish line. Just them, no fire, no threats, no crimson red rose petals, just them, sitting across from each other in a hospital bed, hands clasped together so strongly that no force on this earth could have separated them again. And it`s not one of them making the move, because they both knew what they wanted, both knew the time was finally right, it`s in sync, just like their lives would go on from then on. It`s a fresh start, new from the scratch, and this time they are doing it together. And oh, Windsor, look out and get out the defenses, because they are after all the definition of a power couple.

Green eyes looked into sepia brown ones, and both of them couldn`t deny that their eyes were just that little bit of watery, and when their lips finally met, Julian was the first to wrench his hands free, throwing them around Logans neck, bringing them closer. And Logan sneaked his arms around the smaller boys waist, and their eyes slipped close, so none of them was aware of long fingers draped over brown eyes and a pair of neat eyebrows raised above blue ones, but they do become aware of their audience, when one of the boys heaved a sigh that was so deep and so familiar, it was very much engraved in their very instincts, “Finally.”, and Julian and Logan broke apart, heads turning around to look at the door, where Derek went to move towards them and Clark closed the door, leaning against it with a smirk on his lips, but before Julian could have said anything, Derek snatched up a pillow from the couch and began whacking it over their heads.

“Ow, D, fuck, stop it.”, but all their protest fell on deaf ears, and Logan tried to push Julian behind his back, while Derek began muttering profanities under his breath and continued to assault them with the stiff hospital pillow. Julian, draped across the bed on his stomach by then, held onto Logans waist and started laughing, the blond boy over him raising his hands to dodge his friends attack. Clark chimed in into his friends laughter soon enough, slumped against the door, but Logan finally got his chance and got a hold of Dereks hands, pulling and pushing until he had wrestled his friend down onto the bed, too. They all became a jumbled mess of laughter and limbs.

“Considering what I just witnessed, I will make my retreat and hope for another chance.”, Julians head popped up behind Logan, looking to his Hollywood friend, and even though he didn`t want to think about anything concerning life outside Dalton right now, he sent a small smile in Clarks direction, “It`s okay, Julian, I can wait. Reed is not annoyed yet, he can endure me some more days.”  
“We will talk, Clark, just not now.”, the actor nodded and waved into the round again, before he left the room, Derek untangled himself from Logan and stood back up, the blond Stuart pushed his arms around the brunet actor and pulled him to his chest, now where they had finally found each other, he wouldn`t let go so easily again, Julian smiled and leaned against him.  
“I have a whole talk prepared for this situation, I must warn you.”, Logan and Julian rolled their eyes at Derek, who smirked back at them, sitting down on the couch, Logan and Julian sorted out their positions on the bed again, “But I will refrain from doing so until I have both of you back in Stuart, but know this, I`m happy for you guys.”, he smiled at them, keeping the screams of joys back until he was alone in his room again and could hug his pillow.  
“How are things back at Dalton?”, Logan wanted to know, Julian snuggled to his side, Derek wanted to take a breath to explain, but was stopped by his buzzing phone. Fishing it from his pockets, he looked down at the caller id and frowned, and as expected it didn`t get past his two best friends, especially not past Logan.

“If that`s my father, you will take that call and let him know I am okay. I get your reasoning for him to have time to think, but he doesn`t need to worry, and Michelle doesn`t have to be scared.”, Derek bit his lip, but he still accepted the call and whipped his eyes up to face Logan, green eyes steadily held his gaze.  
“Hello.”, Julian clicked his tongue, when he answered in that cold automatic voice, but Derek stuck out his tongue at him.  
“Derek.”, came the instant reply from the senator, who sounded relieved, lighter, less inclined to yell again, “I know this might not be the best time, and I mostly just called because I wanted to see when you have time.”, that was new, him asking for once, Derek raised an eyebrow, and got two questioning looks in return, “We need to talk, you and I, and I think it`s best if we do it, when we are both alone and don`t have any distractions around.”, Derek was even more confused, when someone giggled in the background of his phone call, especially because that giggle sounded strangely familiar.  
“Yeah, sounds good. I have time tomorrow. Logan gets another check up, before they decide if they can discharge him, and Julian needs to get his cast renewed, so I will have at least two hours to talk. I could call you...”  
“Yes, please. I will make time. Now, I know where you are and I know you`re not alone, so I won`t ask questions or talk any longer than necessary.”, wow, someone must have really washed his head, Derek was really impressed, honestly surprised that John Wright wouldn`t fish for information again, maybe there was hope after all, “But there is a small favor I have to ask, you see, there is this little lady who really wants to talk to you... all three of you as I am being reminded right now, and it would mean a lot to her.”

He put her through without asking, but Derek would never be angry with him, because before he could even really grasp the situation, a small girly voice giggled into the phone and he felt all exhaustion falling from his limbs, every little strain falling off his muscles, and his lips unwillingly curled into that loopsided grin that he only ever got while talking to one person. Logan and Julian shared a look and a smile, they could see how Derek felt better, only by listening to her musical voice.  
“Hi,Panda.”, the athlete sighed into his phone, but upon seeing Julians wide grin, he smiled and put his phone on speaker, placing it on the couch next to himself.  
“Hi, bear.”, Amanda squeaked, she sounded so happy and so elated to hear his voice that even Julian and Logan had to grin, “Are you with Juli and Yoyo? I don`t want them to be alone.”, Julian chuckled and Dereks sister would have noticed that sound everywhere, “Juli! Is Yoyo there, too?”  
“I am right here, Am.”, they could hear her clapping her hands excitedly.  
“Are you okay, Yoyo? John said you were sick.”, Derek blinked in surprise that John had tried to explain things to his little curious sister.  
“I`m fine, Am, maybe I will even get to go back to Dalton on Monday. Now, what is our princess up to in the big city?”

“John and I, we went to the park. We went on a boat on the big lake and I got to feet the ducks. And then we went to the playground. Now, we are waiting for Michelle to come back from the Met, and then we will go eat in a restaurant.”, she sounded positively amazed, Derek, who presumed his parents had to attend a business meeting or that his mother was back for treatment in the hospital and his father had to work, was glad that his sister got someone to keep her mind off things, and maybe she also was part of the reason why John suddenly seemed so set on being peaceful.  
“That sounds like a lot of fun, Manda.”, Julian said, when he noticed that Logan had turned quiet, probably thinking of his father and Michelle back in New York City, none of them could have expected Amanda to change the subject that quickly, all of them had probably thought she would ask more questions about what had happened, but apparently to know they were okay was more than enough for her, and something seemed more important.  
“Bear, do you like blue or red more?”, puzzled, Derek blinked at his phone, Julian leaned closer to Logan and slowly began whispering to him, Logan nodded and smiled at him.  
“For what, Panda?”  
“I can`t tell you. Michelle wants to help me with your birthday present and she said I need to decide on a color.”, Derek cheekily began to grin, suddenly remembering again that Amanda had steadily began telling him about her apparently amazing plans for his present some weeks ago without giving away anything revealing.  
“Well, Panda, I can`t decide that if I don´t know what this is about.”, he grinned and leaned back, catching the disapproving looks on Julians and Logans faces, Amanda clicked her tongue.  
“Yoyo, Derek is being a meanie, you have to punish him.”, and they all started laughing again, all picturing the little girl with the big pout on her face in their minds, arms probably crossed over her chest and her beautiful brown eyes narrowed.

In Hanover House, Justin Bancroft groggily blinked open his eyes again, when the sun was already setting for the day, looking around his room, he pushed some of the blankets away and flinched, when someone cleared their throat in the corner, snapping his eyes around, he had to close them for a moment, because his vision blurred. But it wasn`t enough to not recognize the girl with the long hair, and with much effort, he pushed himself up with his elbow.  
“Sidney?”  
“Well, look who decided to grace us with consciousness again.”  
“What are you doing here?”, she ignored him completely, but he was used to it.  
“Twins popped in about an hour ago and took Charlie back to Windsor. Merril made soup, so I will get you some now that you are awake, and then we`ll talk.”, he could only stare at her back, when Sidney left his room to make a run down to the kitchen, and he didn`t know what he was more afraid of, her or the doomed talk.

Having successfully talked Derek into going back to Dalton for the night to sleep in his own bed, Logan and Julian had talked some more after dinner had been served, but the time came that Logans energy reserves were empty again, and with Julian glued to his side, he had laid back and switched on the TV.  
“I never thought I would say that, but I miss Dalton.”, Julian whispered, while they watched some old crime shows, Logan smiled and pulled him closer, closing his eyes, when he pressed his nose into Julians hair.  
“I`m glad you do. I miss it, too. We`ll be back there soon enough. Back home.”  
“Back home together.”, Julian emphasized, tightening the hold on his fingers, “It doesn`t feel like home without you.”, turning his head around, his brown eyes found green ones so easily, “Nothing will ever feel like home without you.”, and for a second time that day, the world around them stopped existing, and it was just them, just finally them and nothing else was important anymore. And this time, no one disturbed their kiss.


	5. Coming Home

For starters, Justin did not know how he got into this situation, Sidney Willis pinning him down on his bed, her knees on either side of his thighs, her left hand having a death grip on his wrists, both his arms stretched over his head, her right hand forcing his face towards her, and his eyes way too terrified to look away. Charlie was standing in the doorway, his hands over Merrils eyes, the smaller girl standing next to him, her mouth still opened in that silent shriek she had let out upon spotting them, and Spencer was blinking so quickly, Justin was convinced he would have a headache soon.  
“This is not what it looks like.”, he jumped to his defenses, body frozen, but above him Sidney chuckled and leaned down further, her lips curling into a predatory smirk that scared the shit out of Hanovers prefect.

“Are you sure about my intentions?”, he could feel her breath on his lips and his heart started to race, throwing a panicked look towards her brown eyes, Justin tried to wriggle away, but Sidney had him cornered perfectly, Spencer whimpered, mumbling something about privacy, and things he really didn`t need to see or ever hear about, when he turned away and stumbled down the corridor, Merril, her face crimson, excused herself and quickly hurried after him.  
“You want me to leave you alone?”, Charlie chuckled from the doorway, he sounded way too amused, but Justin couldn`t level a death glare in his direction, any further movement from him would have brought their lips even closer together.  
“No!”, Justin almost screamed, it had all started so easy and harmless, but now he was convinced that he should have forced Sidney to go back to Dobry, when midnight had rolled around.

As it was he hadn`t, and she had come back with a bowl full of steaming hot soup, had threatened to feed him, when he had thrown a disgruntled face towards her and then she had patiently waited until he had finished it, before she had started to talk.  
Flashback  
“You`re going to talk, you`ll start at the beginning and we`re going to find the bottom of this. You`re not going to leave that bed or this room until I have made you realize that none of this was your fault.”, Sidneys eyes had stared at him, when he had placed the bowl on his nightstand, sitting up more straight and leaning back against his pillows.  
“Sid...”, but before Justin had even finished her name, he stopped, it was a dead end, there was no negotiating or lying around the truth with her, she always looked right through him, and he would suffer the consequences if she found it he did lie to her, so with a big sigh and a hand pushed over his face, Justin looked back at her, “Laura knew it. My own sister saw right through Adam, she saw how sick his thoughts were, she warned me about him, and if I had listened to her, if I had believed my own little sister, none of this would have happened.”

“How do you know that?”, Sidney argued back, she was sitting in the rocking chair again, “Justin, that Clavell boy wanted to get to Larson, he wanted to take out Wright, and hell, if someone had approached him and tried to stop him, he would have found another way. Look what he did to Derek and Danny, he took them out as collateral damage. Look at Hummel, van Kamp and Anderson, none of them were part of his plan, but he still hurt them. Look at Houston, he tried to stop him, and got thrown out of a window. And maybe if someone had dared to open his mouth, maybe if Laura had convinced you, things would have been a lot worse. Clavell would have been forced to act a lot quicker and more spontaneous, and then who knows what could have happened, maybe he hadn`t drugged Logan, but shot him, stabbed him to make sure he wouldn`t be in his way to Larson.”

“You don`t know that. We could have also stopped him from hurting anyone.”  
“Justin, Adam is in a psychiatric clinic, he is under suicide watch in a cell with no contact to other people beside his therapists. He tries to attack them. He tried to harm other inmates. Justin, his obsession made him a very dangerous man, he only wanted Julian, he didn´t care if people got hurt or killed along the way. There was nothing you could have done.”, Sidneys words were met with silence from Justins side, and with a click in her head, she realized where the problem lay, “You haven`t been to see him, haven`t you?”, Sidney asked in mild outrage, Justin shifted awkwardly on the bed, avoiding her eyes, he hadn`t been to the hospital, whether to see Logan or Julian, truth be told he had avoided them and Derek since the fire.  
“What if he blames me? For Harveys death? For not keeping an eye on Adam? For not stopping things?”  
Flashback end  
And that was when Sidney had pounced on him, ignoring the squeak escaping his throat, when she jumped on him, pinned his thights between hers, pushed his hands over his head and leaned down towards his face, and that was also the moment, when Charlie had pushed open the door, the knock having been lost on both of them. Or Sidney had simply ignored that, Justin wasn`t so sure.

“I won`t comment on this any further if I get an explanation.”, Charlie chuckled and closed the door behind himself, casually striding into the room and flopping down on the couch again, Sidney hadn`t stopped smirking down at the helpless boy beneath her.  
“Sid, please...”, Justin coughed, blue eyes trying to beg it out of the stronger girl.  
“Oh, how much I love your begging.”, Sidney purred down at him in response, making Charlie laugh and Justin grunt, but Sidney seemed to cave in, sliding from the bed again, she snatched up her bag and her jacket, before straightening her ponytail, “I`ll go and take a shower back at Dobry, and then I`ll come back and you better be fit enough to go to the hospital.”, sending Justin one last stern glance, that he answered with a scoff, Sidney waved at Charlie and left the room.  
“Hospital? Did I miss something?”, pathetically tugging up the blankets around him again, Justin decided that it was probably better to tell Charlie himself instead of Sidney doing the honors and phrasing it a lot worse than it really was.

In the hospital, the twins had made their way to their oldest friends room again, after they had passed Derek busy with two phone conversations and the trauma doctor by the reception, after dragging Charlie back to Windsor and getting some sleep themselves, they had only briefly staid at Dalton to get some breakfast, before they had been off again. Sneaking into the darkened room, both twins smiled to each other, when they saw the actor passed out on the couch and the prefect peacefully asleep on the bed, at least until Evan had leaned closer to his face.

“I can hear you, you know. For someone pretending to be sneaky, you are breathing obnoxiously loud.”, Logans voice let Evan freeze by his head and Ethan chuckle at the foot of the hospital bed, green eyes blinked open and searched for either pair of blue ones. They had separated, after Derek had left, the tests had been exhausting, all that walking around and listening to their questions had left Logan tired and worn out, so he had fallen asleep before Julian had even come back from getting his cast renewed, and Derek hadn`t been back either. But now, where he looked around the room, he found Julian on the couch, three blankets over him, face turned away from him, but he looked peaceful, as did the two blond boys around him.  
“Hey, there.”, Ethan tried the carefree approach, it would be the first time they would talk since before the confrontation with their fathers, Logan smiled back at him, shifting around so he could sit up, casting another quick glance to the couch, where Julian was still deep asleep. Evan followed his eyes, grinning quietly.

“Some things never change.”, the younger of the two boys grinned, both of them went to sit down at the end of Logans bed, when the older boy pushed himself into a sitting position.  
“But other things do. Guys I`m sorry. I was a complete jerk, and I...”, but neither twin let him finish his sentence, Evan patted his foot.  
“Hey.”, Ethan stopped him, “No apologies needed, not for us, alright? We`ve been in for the long shot, remember? You`re not getting rid of us that easily.”, the mood was suddenly so somber, something Logan wasn`t used with them around anymore, it felt weird, and he could easily see how uncomfortable both Windsors were.

Not far from them, on the visitors balcony, Derek was leaning against the banister, letting his eyes look over the small city that Westerville was, it looked peaceful and surprisingly enough, or maybe not so shocking anymore, the phone conversation he was having was just as calm.  
“I will talk to the doctors so they will give you the papers after they faxed them to me and I faxed them back with my signature. Are you still sure you want to take on responsibilities for Logan?”, Derek smiled despite the hesitant tone in the senators voice, he could already hear his best friend bitching, complaining and whining, but he was decided.  
“Yes, I am. I can handle him. He has already swallowed and accepted the news that he can`t go back to the Warblers for now, took it rather somber.”, there was a moment of silence on the other side of the phone, just like Logan had been quiet for a moment after the doctors had explained to him that he needed complete rest still, and that being a member of a glee club with stressful competitions and possible light flashes, loud music, dancing and too many chaotic noises could trigger another episode in his head and he would flash back to the fire. None of them wanted that, and Logan was understanding, and before Julian and Derek had even needed to give one good argument, the blond boy had already given his own moral reasons.  
“He is okay, John. He understands and I think he would have done it without the medical issues. He wants to do right, where he did wrong, wants to be a better prefect.”, Derek explained, and John sighed back in New York.

“I`ve been thinking a lot these past two days. I did him wrong, I did all of you wrong and I really need to fix some mistakes before I talk to Logan. I know it won`t be a easy, and no matter how much you tell me and assure me that he wants to speak to me, I need to do some things first. I need to show him that I changed. So, I can only beg you, Derek, to not let him lose hope. We will talk.”  
“I know, I know you will. I am honestly the last person on the planet who will take the hope away from him... Listen, I have to go back now, I don`t know how much twins Julian and Logan can take already...”, John interrupted him with a small chuckle, Derek still got goosebumbs when he heard him this calm and casual.  
“I understand. I`ll see that Amanda gets your greetings and you`ll talk when something comes up. Thank you, Derek.”, once again telling him how it really wasn`t a big deal, Derek said goodbye to Logans father and pocketed his phone again, giving himself a moment to clear his head, before he made his way back. Unbeknownst to him, Logan, Julian and the twins had reached the topic he was fearing they would have talked about immediately.

“I`m not coming back to the Warblers, Ethan.”, Logan clarified, it had been a decision long coming for him, something he had started to think about before he had collapsed, before Julian had woken up, before Dalton had been saved. And he was sure of it, there was no way back for him until he had sorted out his mess, it wasn`t fair to the other boys, it wasn`t fair to Medel and it surely wasn`t what Harvey would have wanted for him. Ethan and Evan stared at him with wide eyes.  
“But...”, Ethan tried to protest, but the words were lost on both of them, they hadn`t expected that to happen, Julian tried to smile at them, Logan knew he wasn`t completely convinced that it was the right decision, but he respected his choice.  
"Guys, you have to understand my reasons. I barely got out of this mess alive, I need some time.", Logans begging green eyes looked over the shocked and distressed faces of Ethan and Evan, whose blue eyes blinked at him in confusion, "It`s not about Harvey, it`s my own decision. My life is a mess right now, I am the worst prefect of all times, I haven`t talked to my father since I punched him, and Julian and I…", he reached for the hand of the boy who was silently sitting on the bed next to him, Julian had woken up not long after the twins had arrived. He had accepted the overly enthusiastic greeting they had offered him, had awkwardly patted their backs, while they had hugged him, before he had taken flight onto Logans bed, instantly reaching for his hand and even though both twins hadn`t said a word, the all knowing grin spreading over their faces had told them enough, "I`m not coming back. Maybe I`ll reaudition for a spot next year, but until then, I`m not a Warbler anymore.", it was easy to see that it had been one of the most difficult decisions of his life so far, but Logan seemed decided. 

“Logan, none of us is judging you for what you did and didn`t do.”, Evan spoke out, just as it knocked once and Derek opened the door without waiting for an answer, he took one look into their faces and knew instantly what was going on.  
“You told them?”, Logan nodded as Derek went to sit down on the couch, papers in one hand, his phone in the other, “Did you tell them the reasons you gave yourself or the reasons I gave you?”, even though it was asked as a question, Derek already knew it was meant rhetorical, so he sighed, ignored Logans glare and turned to the twins, who looked at him in slight bewilderment.  
“Logan can`t come back for now. He might have his own moral reasons, which I highly accept, but there is an actual medical reason speaking against it. Any light flashes, too much stress or even too much noise could trigger another episode, and we need to prevent that.”, it staid unmentioned that Derek was in complete and utter mother hen mode again, Logan and Julian had bowed to their fate and the twins didn`t seem to find it too weird.

It wasn`t even ten minutes later, Ethan and Evan had quickly snapped back to their goofy selves, both understanding Logans reasoning, and Logan knew he could still count on them, with Julian in his arms and Derek sitting on the couch flipping through the newspaper Ethan and Evan had brought, Logan silently watched them putting on their jackets again.  
“Guys.”, he called for their attention again, as they made to leave, it wasn`t strange between them anymore, wasn`t Windsor against Stuart over long lost friendship anymore, Logan knew they were still his oldest friends, still knew that when it came to it, Ethan and Evan would always fight for him, both pairs of blue eyes switched to him, “No word to anyone about Julian and me until...”  
“Oh, trust us, Logan, we won`t tell anyone about you and the cat.”  
“I`m not a cat...”, but Julians weak words of protest, more said for the point of it, he had long ago given up on getting through their thick heads, fell on deaf ears.  
“Your secret is safe with us.”, and before Logan could have said something to state his confusion and even explained what the rest of his condition would have been, Ethan and Evan were gone.  
“I think we`ve just been Tweedled.”

It weren´t the only visitors Logan and Julian would get on that day, because half an hour after lunch time, after Derek had left for Dalton again, Bailey having called him to reign in Marcus who had apparently “completely lost his shiny marbles”, two other Dalton students made their way into the hospital.

“Are you sure we are really not overstepping any boundaries here?”, Blaine raised his eyebrows and looked to his right to face his boyfriend, whose worried blue eyes looked right back at him, they were walking up the staircase that led to the corridor of the last remaining hospitalized Dalton boy, the Windsor second in command rolled his eyes.  
“Kurt, it was Derek who told the twins it`s okay to let us visit. Derek. It`s not like we snatched some random guy off the hospital and asked him if the senators son might like some visitors, it was his best friend. Relax, why are you so tense?”, Kurt huffed and pushed open the door, letting Blaine step first onto the white and cold corridor, he shifted the basket of cookies he had made higher into his arms.

“After everything that has happened, you don`t expect me not to be tense, right?”  
“Kurt, it`s weird and it`s complicated, but it`ll be okay.”, they had reached the door and Blaine swiftly knocked two times, “The worst thing that could happen is him being his old bitchy self, and after these last two weeks, I would be happy to see even that.”  
“Come in.”, Logans voice called out behind the door before Kurt could have said anything else and Blaine smiled at him, opening the door and letting them inside. Logan looked at them in slight surprise, when they entered, green eyes blinking two times as if they weren`t quite sure of what he was seeing, he was propped up on the bed, wearing a Dalton hoodie, the oxygen mask was gone, but his arm was still hooked to the IV line by his side, but he still looked so much better than the last time Kurt had seen him two days ago. More alive. He was still pale, but it was starting to look like his usual lack of tanning. The couch was filled with blankets, Julians jacket and several other things that had the actors ownership written all over it, but the boy himself was missing in the picture.

“Hey, did somebody wreck havoc on Stuart again? To what do I owe this visit?”, Logan quipped, and there was the old snark, Blaine could feel Kurt relax by his side.  
“We wanted to see for ourselves that you are okay.”, Logan smiled, waved for them to find a place to sit down.  
“Sorry for the chaos. Julian can get messy.”, the Stuart apologized, when Blaine pushed the things on the couch into one corner so he and Kurt could sit down.  
“Where is he?”  
“Getting someone to get coffee. How are things at school?”  
“We`re tidying up, ourselves. Ramsey can`t call in official help until the police has finished the paperwork, but we don`t want to see the chaos anymore. But it`s going well, Justin and Charlie think that they can get the board to reopen the school in two weeks.”  
“So, no more talks about Dalton being closed?”, the real question sounded more like, so my father is actually shutting up for once, Blaine grinned.

“He is keeping silent, surprisingly silent. I have no idea what Derek told him, none of us do. Well, the twins may, but they would never tell. Lord Bancroft stepped off the board, Colin Brightman is leading it for now, until they have time to find a good replacement or for a vote. But he is giving the decisions into our hands, Justin is the one to do our part of the talking for now, at least until you feel up to it. He seems to have increasingly more fun the more he pisses off his father. It`s endearing.”, Logan laughed, just as the door clicked open again and Julian limped into the room, crutches scratching on the floor, a young nurse followed him, smiling at them all and placing the two cups of steaming hot coffee on the table next to Logans bed. She was gone very quickly again.

Kurt was able to take a good look at the actor, while Julian sat down on the foot of Logans bed, pulling himself up onto the bed until he could sit properly, and even though he still looked tired, it was ages more better and relaxed than he had him in memory, and he raised an eyebrow when he realized that Julian was wearing a sweatshirt that was definitely too big to be his own, a sweatshirt that had a defined Dalton look, and a fencing club badge on the side...  
Julian smirked at him, when he realized that Kurt had noticed, and the Windsor diva gaped right back at him, because what exactly was going on here. Julian was looking quite happy, calm, not the hysterical shadow crossing over his face every ten seconds, he was okay. Logan and Blaine hadn`t taken any notice of their exchange, with the smaller boy filling him in on more details about the ongoing in their school.  
“What`s that?”, was the first thing Julian actually said out loud and he nodded to the basket, Kurt was still holding onto.

“Some cookies, twins robbed me into making tons of them again, I brought you some.”, with a dramatic overreaction Julian flipped his hand over his forehead and pretended to faint, dropping back on Logans legs, the blond boy rolled his eyes, but still laughed, Blaine and Kurt blinked at them, “How could we ever come into the joy of tasting these heaven praised cookies?”, Julian made his best damsel in distress impression, Kurt groaned inwardly, he knew who Julian must have talked to, Blaine looked highly irritated.  
“What stuff are you on?”, Blaine couldn´t help himself from commenting, Kurt glared at him and pushed an elbow into his ribs, Logan leaned his head back into the pillows and laughed, closing his eyes in the process as his whole body shook with his laughter. Julian grinned a Cheshire smile at them, his head looking quite comfortable on Logans thighs.  
“You talked to Ethan and Evan, didn`t you? They are just cookies.”  
“Sure.”, Logan answered him, reaching for one of the coffee cups, “Just cookies, maybe that`s the reason both of them went completely batshit crazy on Derek yesterday, when he was reluctant to leave. They weren`t just very eager to get back to Dalton to eat your cookies, they were just looking out for Derek.”, he smiled at them, taking a sip of the coffee, but his face quickly contorted into a grimace and his lips curled up in disgust, placing the cup away again, maybe a little more forceful than necessary, he glared down at the boy on his legs, but green eyes held more affection than anger, Kurt was so confused.

“Are you trying to poison me with intention now?”  
“It`s good for you.”, Julian answered him, not even looking up, sepia eyes concentrating on flicking at his nails, Kurt and Blaine exchanged a look, especially when Logan whined.  
“I need caffeine, why is nobody getting that.”, and there Blaine chuckled, while Kurt still stared at them, Julian rolled his eyes.  
“So, trying the decaff path again...”  
“Doctors want to keep his body toxic free for another 24 hours, which means no coffee. They don`t know what they are doing to us with that.”, Julian explained, throwing an overly dramatic eye roll towards Blaine, who laughed in return, it was such an unfamiliar situation that Kurt had to blink for a moment, Logan was still mumbling under his breath.  
“How long did you ever go without coffee?”, Kurt directed towards him again, Logan looked thinking for a moment, before he grinned.  
“Despite the first thirteen years of my life? How long was I asleep again? A week? So it`s nine days now.”

“Oh my god, you are impossible.”, Kurt couldn`t help but shake his head, leaning back against Blaine, “Julian, please tell me you can be stronger than that.”, Julian clicked his tongue and shook his head, brown eyes smirking at the Windsor diva.  
“Nope, count down the days I was out, and you have the longest time I went without coffee, too.”  
“Trust me, Kurt, you don`t want to experience them without coffee on a normal school day. And besides, you have much to talk about, hm? Your room is still being filled with cups whenever you so much as frown at something.”, Kurt groaned, Logan and Julian chuckled, it was surprising to him how relaxed they were, and it wasn`t until Blaine shifted slightly and jostled him forward a bit that he noticed just where Logans fingers were, and he completely froze up, blue eyes snapped open in surprise, because the singers fingers were playing with strands of oak brown hair, absentmindedly stroking over the soft skin behind the actors ears. 

One quick glance further down only confirmed the way his thoughts fell into, scraped up tanner fingers were drawing circles on the Stuart prefects right knee, and with a startled gasp, he drew his hands back to prop himself up against the back of the couch, but unintentionally he pushed his left elbow into Blaines rips, prompting the smaller boy to let out his breath in one loud puff.  
“Woah, fuck, Kurt, that hurt...”, but Kurt shushed him, big blue eyes starring at both Stuarts, Julian had daringly quirked an eyebrow, but Kurt could see it in his eyes, could see the effort it was costing him to keep himself from grinning, Logan had directly chosen to avoid his eyes. Green eyes were smiling down at the actor, he was even biting down on his lower lip to keep his mouth from pulling up any further.  
“Oh my god, now I know why the twins were on speed.”, and they acted in sync, Logan chuckled, thumb stroking over Julians cheek, while the actor smiled and closed his eyes shortly, leaning into his touch.

“What are you... OH!”, and Kurt threw a disapproving look towards Blaine for his slow brain, it was Logan who looked up at them first then, catching brown eyes, he started grinning, and whatever awkward moment there could have been, two ex boyfriends, whose fall out had basically ripped the school apart, and the two divas at their sides now, having been so waist deep in that whole mess from the start, but the moment never came, Blaine mirrored Logans grin, “Well, congratulations, guys. Dare I say it was a long time coming?”, Julian snorted.  
“Tell me about it.”, Logan clapped a hand over Julians mouth and rolled his eyes, Blaine started laughing, while Kurt staid silent.  
“Don`t mind him, they are still giving him the funny painkillers.”, he recoiled, when Julian bit him, it was endearing to see them like that, so in tune to each others thoughts, comfortable, relaxed, happy, but Kurt couldn`t help to think that it had maybe been too quick.

Ten minutes later, Blaine and Logan looked so much at ease with each other again, that Kurt was really curious on where they stood with each other now, but they were preparing to leave again and maybe he would have time back at Windsor to question Blaine about it. It made him slightly uneasy, to know that Logans behavior seemed so forgiven all of a sudden, and it irked him that Julian didn´t seem to find it strange at all that his new boyfriend seemed to still get a laugh out of his ex. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.  
“Probably Derek, his mothering instincts have picked up that we are having too much fun again.”, Logan muttered, Julian slapped his knee playfully, “Come in!”, the Stuart prefect answered and the door opened to reveal brown curly hair in a ponytail, “Sidney?”, Logan called out in complete and utter confusion, staring with wide eyes at the girl in the doorway, Julian sat back up, sepia eyes narrowed, Blaine and Kurt halted in putting on their jackets.

“What? Not happy to see me?”, Logan staid silent, because he had no idea on what to answer to that, the only times he really saw the older Willis twin was in prefect meetings between Dalton and Dobry, or when Derek messed up some triple girlfriend relationships again and at least one of them was in Royal, this had nothing to do with the first one and he highly doubted Derek was so desperate already, because well, how many hours had he not been at the hospital, Sidney, ignoring him, moved further into the room, “I`m touched by your exclamation of joy. Larson, good to see you up again.”, the actor, blinking at the girl, sat up straight and raised both eyebrows.  
“We`ve only met once, and back then you wanted all three of us dead.”, he reminded her of the situation that had led to their first meeting, the nasty fall out between Derek and Casey, if he recalled Logans narration of the funeral right, that seemed to have changed at least a little.  
“Priorities change. Blaine, Hummel, is it okay if I throw you out, there is something we need to talk about.”, Blaine hastily nodded, even though he was confused, Kurt was still eying Sidney.  
“We were already on our way.”, Windsors second in command answered, waving to Logan and Julian, he pulled Kurt towards the door.

“What in gods name do we have to talk about?”, Sidney smiled, a little menacing, snapped an arm into the corridor and pulled a miserable and tired looking Justin into the room, for a moment all four boys froze. Blaine and Kurt recking their brains for when they had last seen Hanovers prefect yesterday and how he had looked then, Logan and Julian did a double take, the shock was bigger for them, especially for Logan, in whose eyes Justin had always been the perfect boy to look up to.  
“This is what we need to talk about.”, Blaine and Kurt took their cue and quickly left the room, closing the door behind them.  
“Justin?”, and it sounded to bewildered and concerned that Justin could have crumpled to the floor, he knew Logan wouldn`t take this as easy as Sidney had made him believe.

“Why don`t we grab a coffee, Larson, you and your pals live off of it.”, Julian threw a questioning look to Logan, but the older boy nodded, not taking his eyes from Justins sickly looking face, so with one last kiss placed on blond hair, Justin and Sidney both blinked in surprise, Julian took his crutches and followed Sidney from the room. It didn`t really reach everyone’s ears what Justin and Logan talked about, only one small glimpse would be settled on the next day, but it clearly staid in between them. As it was, Justin had sat down on the couch, Blaine and Kurt had previously occupied, shifting around and nestling his hands together, until the pregnant silence in the room unsettled him too much, he looked up and caught green eyes looking at him in curiosity.  
“I...”, but the words got stuck in his throat and he coughed, Logan raised an eyebrow.  
“You look like shit, man.”, Logan beat him to the punchline, and Justin grimaced, the blond Stuart boy studied him closer, “When was the last time you slept properly?”  
“Yesterday.”, Justin answered truthfully, “But before that, not since the fire... Logan, do you blame me?”, it took all he had left in strength to keep his blue eyes focused on Logans green orbs, as they narrowed in confusion first, and then widened in realization.  
“What... No, Justin, no. Why would I blame you?”, pushing back the blanket even further, Logan swung his legs from the bed and sat up, looking at Justin with highly confused and helpless eyes, and Justin hated that look so much, because Logan was strong.

“I could have stopped Adam.”, Logan pushed both hands over his face, as he understood.  
“No, you couldn`t. No one could have stopped him, he wanted Julian and he would have done everything to get him where he wanted him, and that was up in the third story of the Art Hall. Trust me, Justin, I had a lot of time on my hand to think over it, to get through every possible what if scenario, and it only ended in even more nightmares. You could have gotten yourself hurt, or even worse, killed, and we need you. Need you to keep a cool head when things get messy again.”, and Justin relaxed back into the couch, felt the rocks filled with guilt fall from his shoulders, “Now, where I got you here, there is actually something I want to talk with you about, and I need to take this chance where Derek is not here for once.”, Justin raised both eyebrows in question and Logan smirked.

In Dalton, the conspirators and Bailey had mingled around Blaine and Kurt as they had returned, even the twins popping up from whatever place they had gone to, only Charlie was nowhere to be found, but Blaine wouldn`t have been surprised if he was asleep again, he was pushing himself too hard. Their friends were also pushing, bombarding them with questions before they had even fully stepped into the common room.

“Just make Julian happy.”, Blaine answered them, Ethan and Evan cocked their heads to the side, while Wes, David and Bailey looked confused, Kurt tried to keep the smile at bay.  
“Well, we`re already onto that.”, Ethan started, “But sweet little Cheshire has a big nack for everything involving candy. We already ordered enough cherry lollipops to survive the apocalypse, and we got thousand other things. Julian will be happy, but we want to do something for Logan now.”, Kurt pulled Blaine against his chest, circling their hands together, both smiling, but also wondering why the twins seemed to play so dumb, why would they need to fish for information about the boy they knew since they were born.  
“Just make Julian happy, trust me, it`ll make Logan happy.”, it only increased their irritation, and Kurt wondered how they could be that dense, especially the twins who always knew everything, or Bailey, who knew how Julian had been feeling, but footsteps entering the common room snapped them from their thoughts.

“Anderson is right.”, Dereks voice reached their ears and they all turned around, he looked better, face flushed with life again, the dark circles were gone, and his clothes weren`t rumpled anymore, “If you wanna welcome Logan back with a smile on his face, then make Julian happy.”, he was playing with car keys in one hand, “But if you really want to do something, cupcakes with chocolate frosting, or give him some new sheet music, I have the distinct feeling that there will be a lot of piano playing in the next weeks and months, hopefully forever if it goes after my taste.”, he shared a grin with Kurt and Blaine, and both of them would later swear that he also threw a quick smirk in the twins direction, “Or you make his room a double, because that would make him very happy.”, and that made it, Baileys mouth slacked open, Wes and David stared at Derek, while the twins broke out into huge grins, which seemed absolutely fake.  
“Pretty Cheshire and the Knave?”, they sounded oddly like they had been practicing their surprise, it sounded fake, Blaine wondered how long they had been looking forward to this moment, and especially how long they had known about it officially.

“Bailey can get you the receipt for cupcakes from Stuart if you would like that, the one with notice to all of Logans allergies, and even if I`m probably going to regret this in the end, you may redecorate Logans room and the anteroom if that makes you happy. Bailey can let you into Julians room, not that I have to tell you which one is it. I would help, but someone is waiting for me at the hospital, and they have both not been blessed with a lot of patience.”, the words were disapproving, but Derek was grinning, he looked so downright happy and excited, so relieved and fresh, Blaine could only partly imagine how he must be feeling after all the secrecy, the fights and the fear of losing both of them.  
“When is Logan going to be released?”, Bailey wanted to know, already fishing for his phone to warn Marcus that the twins would probably be over in no time, the other boy liked to stay clear of all Windsor including activities, he barely trusted Reed and the twins were their own league.  
“They are doing more tests this evening, so presumably tomorrow, but if something changes, I`ll let you know.”, and gesturing for Bailey to follow him for some more Stuart concerning talks, Derek left Windsor house again.

 

The next day started in Dalton with more activity than any normal school day usually brought along, Stuarts were up and about their house, running around, Marcus sharp eyes seeing every last speck of dust that was keeping the house from being perfect. Stuarts acting prefect had gotten a whistle from Derek before he had left for the hospital earlier, blowing in it way too often for the other Stuarts to not by annoyed, he was like a drill sergeant on deprivation, and when the boys had already sighed in relief upon seeing their house clean as never before, Marcus had shooed them outside to continue there. They complained, but never to him, in fear that it could lead back to Derek or Logan and nobody wanted to deal with that, they were too scared of the athlete and the prefect, and also way too grateful to not help in getting their school perfect for its saviours return. 

Dereks call had come shortly after nine, so the twins had doubled their efforts in redecorating the newly shared room of Julian and Logan, and Bailey had strict instructions to keep an eye and at least one ear on them. Their timetable had a deadline now, Derek would drive Logan and Julian back in the afternoon, and they all wanted to be ready then. At the Art Hall ruins, Charlie had taken over control again, refreshed after a full nights sleep and the relieved worry that Justin could break apart on the inside, he had called up the combined help of Windsors and Hanovers underclassmen to double their work on clean ups, they had, with help of some day students, who had gladly joined in with lending a helping hand, fixed up some white tarpaulins to shield it from overcurious eyes. And also to keep the wind from blowing their work apart again, they still found small pieces of pictures and sheet music every now and then, and nobody wanted to lose something to some lousy breeze. Pushing a hand over his face, Charlie threw a look to the boy sitting cross legged on a burned beam not far from him, flipping through a list of things they had found, he had left Blaine in charge in the house today, made sure that the twins behaved themselves over at Stuart and took one last look over Dwight perched in his salt ring, watched like an eagle by Todd, before he had left to check on Justin. 

But Hanovers prefect had still been asleep, and Merril had assured him that she wouldn`t let Justin out of the house if he wasn`t up for it, Spencer and Danny had already pulled up some other Hanovers and they were busy scrubbing down Adams old room, scratching down the tapestry and pulling out the carpet, they had all agreed on making the room completely new.  
"What is going through your head?", he questioned the boy with the blue sweater, who was frowning down at the list in his hands.  
"Much, very much.", Riley Page commented, looking up to catch the Windsors gaze.  
"We`re all grateful you came to help. After our mess almost cost you your school."  
"It`s not just our school, Charlie.", the day student leader quipped, "Dalton is home for all of us. And if it hadn`t been for Wright, we wouldn`t have it anymore. This mess was no ones fault, now we have to work together to clean it up.", Charlie stopped what he was doing and looked at the other boy, how his eyes had flickered back to the list in his hands.  
"Listen, Riley..."

"Don`t, Charlie, don´t.", Riley instinctively knew where Windsors prefect was leading the conversation, "It can wait, Lancaster is not running anywhere. Dalton is more important right now.", sending him a smile, Riley pushed up the sleeves of his shirt, just as a freshman from Hanover jogged up to them, holding a blackened picture frame in one hand.  
"I found this under a crashed beam.", he grinned at them, before sprinting back to his friends, Charlie wiped off some of the ashes with his sleeve, the shirt he was wearing had been done for days now anyway.  
"What is it?", Riley wanted to know, when Charlie began to smile.  
"It`s a picture of Blaine and Logan shortly before Sectionals two years ago.", he showed Riley the photo that was still intact behind the battered frame, and green eyes found Logan sitting on the piano bench in the Warblers room, fingers poised over the keys, with Blaine sitting cross legged on the piano top, head thrown back in laughter, Logan himself was grinning with joy.

“Who usually baked cupcakes for Logan? You Stuarts don´t necessarily look like the motherly type, I didn`t even know your kitchen could do anything else but make coffee.”, Bailey glared at him from the table, but Kurt ignored it, continuing to grab more ingredients from the shelves, while Bailey was already chopping the chocolate into smaller pieces. It was quiet in the house, nothing too unusual, but most boys were outside or helping somewhere else in the school with the rebuilding process. The only noise came from the anteroom, when Ethan and Evan moved something around again, even Pavarotti, having been moved into the common room to have at least some company was absolutely silent, he even looked as if he missed his owner, but he was nothing compared to the small spiky hedgehog running around in his cage, desperately looking as if he wanted someone to cuddle him, but from what Bailey had told him, no one even dared to get close to Sonic Larson, no one but the Stuart trio and Julians castmates, and the only one of them inside of Dalton at the moment was sleeping in Julians room.  
“Turn the receipt around.”, Bailey answered his question, Kurt was confused, but did as he was told, turning the piece of paper around, he could identify it as a piece of sheet music, and between the chords someone had written a message in a very neat and cursive handwriting.

Next time you want some, try asking nicely, Wright!  
And under that, a different person had scribbled something, Kurt remembered it as Logans style, so it wasn`t a big question anymore, who had written the first message, even through his handwriting you could easily pick out the snarky sarcasm.  
You liked my way of asking, Larson! Why don`t you write it down, so I can try myself on it.  
“Logan never tried, he is a disaster in the kitchen with everything not concerning coffee, but still, Julian wrote it down, so Derek could try his hand at it.”, which was even more confusing and Kurt raised an eyebrow at Bailey, who laughed in return, “I know it sounds confusing, but even you must have picked up on Dereks tendencies to become a mother hen, and there is a lot you learn about Julian Larson, when you live in one house with him, a lot of surprising details. He did a lot for Logan, you know, sometimes he was the only one able to get through to him.”  
“Julian bakes?”, Kurt wanted to know, failing to get that picture of the actor into his head, Bailey grinned, pulling out a salad leaf from the fridge, he pushed it through the bars of Sonics cage.  
“Yep, when he was stressed from school.”

It wasn`t long until the cupcakes were in the oven and Kurt made his way back to Windsor again, after Bailey promised him that he was completely able to take them out himself. And when the clock stroke twelve, Windsors diva and Blaine were on their way to Main, searching for the small painter and his dancing boyfriend, after Shane had called because Reed had something to show them.

Reed was exactly where the twins had directed them to, the arts classroom looked like a hurricane victim, in one corner Shane had taken refuge, hiding behind a big canvas, idly playing on his phone, he hurriedly waved them over, when Blaine and Kurt stepped into the classroom.  
“Be quiet, he is on a roll.”, Shane whispered to them, and when they had climbed over chairs carelessly thrown to the side, they spotted another figure sitting cross legged on the floor, Clark Sawyer looked as if he had been attacked by rainbows.  
“Didn`t expect to see you here.”, Blaine greeted the Hollywood star, Clark smiled, “Thought you would have left with the others.”  
“I`m leaving after I talked with Julian, but he is not leaving Wrights side and I pissed him off.”  
“What is he doing?”, Kurt wanted to know, peering across the room, where Reed was almost assaulting the canvas.  
“I thought he wanted to do something to give to Logan and Julian, but somehow it turned into Hulk and rainbow showers.”, the canvas Reed was working on was halfway turned away, so they weren`t able to see anything, “And we`re not allowed closer, at least, if you don`t want to end like Sawyer.”  
“Really funny, Anderson.”, Clark snipped back, finally placing his leg fully on the ground again, so they could see what he was playing with, it was spiky, with two brown eyes staring up at them.  
“Are you allowed to have him here? Because even knowing him as little as I do he is going to throw a hissy fit of epic proportions if Sonic gets hurt.”, Blaine pointed out, Clark snorted.  
“Derek needed a break.”, he shrugged his shoulders, “And apparently every other Stuart is too afraid, so I took him. He misses his daddy.”, Kurt chose not to answer to that, suddenly something heavy dropped to the ground and Shane jumped to his feet. They all turned to stare to their little friend, paintbrush lying at his feet now.

“I`m done.”, he proclaimed, face almost completely black and purple, but his grin was so bride and proud, Kurt was taken aback, “You wanna see it?”  
“You`re asking?”, Clark and Shane chorused together, as they all stood up, Reed rolled his eyes, but nevertheless turned the canvas around.

It was beautiful.

“Wow. They are going to love it, Reed.”

“Yeah, J will really like that.”

“This is amazing, Reed.”

“Just, wow.”

On a light purple background, two hands were reaching out for each other, one turned up, the other one upside down, fingers just barely touching, above them a black and purple grinning Cheshire cat was looking down at them with sepia brown eyes that really eerily looked like Julians, and under them striking green eyes looked up from a black and grey Knave.  
“Okay, we have one hour until they come home. We need to get that into their room and you two really need a shower, or bleach or something.”

One hour later, just as planned, Derek turned his car onto the courtyard of Dalton and smiled, when he heard the contented sigh from his best friends. It was quiet, but Derek knew he wasn`t imagining the eyes on them, the boys just gave them some piece, he knew it was a lot, and he wasn`t blind, he could easily see how much Logan and Julian avoided to look towards the white tarpaulins. They made their way to Stuart without anyone crossing their way, and even the house was quiet, some boys were huddled in the common room, and they all smiled and greeted their returned housemates with glee, but no one crowded around them. Only Marcus walked up to them, whispered something to Derek and clapped Logan on the shoulder once, before he vanished into the kitchen. Just like always. Normalcy, just what they all wanted. Derek stopped with a grin in front of the closed anteroom door.  
“Now, don`t freak out.”, and before Logan could have uttered of word of confusion, Derek threw open the door and stepped inside.

They both froze in the door, and Derek was so glad he had gone in before them, just to see the look in their eyes, just to see their faces. Julians brown eyes are widened in amazement, lips apart, mouth forming a perfect o, while he looked around the anteroom, where almost every surface was covered to the brink with glowing red cherry lollipops, the piano top was shuffled with sheet music, arranged into a perfectly formed heart and in the left corner right under Pavarotti, Sonic was happily shuffling his feet upon spotting his beloved Daddy back in their home, cage tripled in size, carefully and tenderly filled with new toys and adventures, and right above the small heap of fresh leaves, someone had pinned a picture of the three of them to the bars, and without really realizing it, the tears were streaming down his face. In happiness. In gratitude. Logan was different, eyes glowing in surprise, lips curved into a smile, while he took in their own small common room, slightly shaking his head at the neatly painted banner above the windows. Welcome back, we missed you was sticking out from the white sheet in thick blue colors, and then he laughed out, when he saw the baskets of cupcakes filling the heart on the piano.

“Just wait until you see your room, Lo.”, Derek quipped from where he was patiently waiting at their door, even if they didn`t know it yet.  
“There is more?”, Julian choked out, already a happy emotional mess again, Derek smiled and nodded for them to come over. Julian limped his way over to him, Logan dropping their bags by the piano before joining them. Derek waited until his friends were standing side by side again.  
“Even knowing that I might regret this in every possible way in some weeks, I hope it makes you happy. And if it doesn`t, blame the twins, even if it was my idea. Come on, open the door.”, Logan shortly looked at him in confusion, before he swiped his keycard through the lock, pushing the door open, when the green light appeared. He took a casual step inside and froze again, Julian copying him once again at his side, both their faces completely overwhelmed with surprise. 

It looked different, there was still Logans old room somehow left, but the second bed right next to the old one, the second desk directly facing the old one by the windows, the keyboard in the corner framed with at least twenty balloons, both beds were decked in candies, but the best thing was the picture, the simple rectangular canvas hanging on the wall right across from the beds. Julian gave out a small yelp, clutching onto Logans right arm and pulling him around, from where the blond had previously stared at the two beds with scrunched up eyebrows.  
“Oh my god, Lo, look.”, awakened from his confusion by the sheer wonder in Julians voice, Logan followed his eyes and then his mind went blank, and for a split second Derek feared he wouldn`t like it, but then the prefect pulled up a hand and placed it over his mouth, hiding the jaw that had just clapped down. Julian on his arm looked like a small kid on Christmas morning, eyes hungrily taking anything in, “Oh my god, it looks so beautiful.”

(Thanks again for secondus for having made this beautiful picture)

“Van Kamp made it.”, Derek made them aware of his presence again, and Julians bright eyes flicked to him, and it almost brought tears to his eyes again, because hell, how long had he longed for those brown eyes to look like that again.  
“Didn`t doubt that for a second, D.”, they shared a smile, while Logan was still staring at the picture, looking so utterly amazed and at home.  
“I think I need to sit down.”, he ratted out, and acting rushed again, because that collapse was still haunting his mind sometimes, Derek pushed some candy away and helped Logan onto his bed, “What does this mean, Derek?”  
“Well.”, Derek smiled to himself, patting his pockets for a moment, before he found what he was searching for, looking from Logan to Julian and back, he pulled out the newly coded keycard, “Say hello to your new roommate.”, and Logan dropped back onto his bed, not caring for the candy poking into his back, and he laughed, loud, roaring around the room, booming back from the walls, while Julian blinked at him, before the actor broke out into the most grateful smile that he had ever shown him.

“Really?”  
“Really, Jules. I thought that it will help both of you getting over this, and get it on with that.”, he nodded to Reeds picture on the wall, “And don`t worry, twins have a brain in their blond heads somewhere, your walls are soundproofed now.”, Logan was crying by then, clutching his sides, laughter only rippling even louder from him, while Julian grinned and threw his arms around Dereks neck, pulling him into a bone crushing hug, both of them also laughing by then.  
“Thank you, thank you so much.”, and it`s not surprising that Logan pulled them down onto the bed in the next moment, pushing both arms around them and for a minute they led themselves be seventeen, just seventeen. Not a care in the world. No drama and no trauma around them, just the three of them, best friends forever, lost in each others friendship and comfort.

“They wanna make a bonfire later. All houses together, Amos said some Dobry girls are also coming, no one is pressuring you to join. They just wanna celebrate that we are all back together again. And you are the hero of the hour, Lo.”, Derek had crawled over to the other bed, having given Logan and Julian more space to melt into each other, Julian smiled, eyes closed, head placed on Logans chest. The returned prefect rolled his eyes, but Derek stood his ground, “No, I`m not taking an eye roll for that. You saved this school, come on, be the good guy for a change.”  
“But that is boring.”, Logan whined and Julian started laughing again, Derek sighed, but couldn`t stop himself from grinning.  
“Well, at least show them the Stuart mob boss has returned.”, and they all cracked up again, too happy to be together again inside the walls that had always been home for them.  
“My villain!”, Julian gasped and dramatically threw his arm over his eyes, pretending to fall, Logan smirked at Derek, who feigned gagging. 

Logan was quickly tired out again, energy reserves still very low, and when Julian looked completely at ease with his laptop, absolutely fixed on his Twitter page, Derek knew he could leave them alone for some time, because now Julian and Logan were home again, and his last guards could be pulled off. He had them back. Deciding to just read something, Derek didn`t even realize that he was out cold the second his head hit the pillows on his bed until he woke up two hours later, when the sun was already standing much lower than before. Jumping into the shower, he took his time with the hot water, letting his muscles relax.

When he stepped back into his room, hair still wet, shirt lazily thrown over his chest, he hadn`t even bothered to completely dry, he wasn`t too surprised to hear his phone buzzing on his desk, his sister must have just come home from ballet classes.  
“Hi, Panda.”, he greeted her, placing his phone on speaker, a voice chuckled on the other end of the line and Derek winced, “Sorry, Dad. Was convinced she would call first.”, and Ernest Seigerson laughed again.  
“Well, she wanted to, but I thought I check in with you first. See if everything is okay.”  
“It`s great. They are back home and I couldn`t feel better, it`s wonderful.”, shifting through another stack of post it notes, Marcus had written for him, Derek scowled at them, debating whether or not he would get mad if Derek lost them on purpose.  
“You sound like it again. I`ll give her the phone now and let you have some privacy.”, Derek knew what it meant, that is really translated as I respect your decisions and I trust you to handle this right. Stuarts acting prefect knew that it was surely a difficult situation for his father, having his only son at war with his closest friend, Derek was only more grateful that things were slowly pulling into the right direction and that his father had never been angry with him, not for one moment of it.

“Thanks, Dad.”, Ernest could have used Amandas curiosity to look how Julian and Logan were doing and he could have easily pushed his information along to John, but he let them have their peace, and respected his sons wish for only basic personal information policy towards Logans father.  
“Bear!”, his sisters excited voice reached his ears not a second later, and Derek grinned, as always it was so good to hear her, but ever since the fire, talking to her meant so much more, one little laugh brought back so much energy and hope for better times.  
“Hi, Panda, how was school?”, deciding to push the notes from Marcus under a history book, Derek smirked, when he couldn`t see them anymore, Amanda tsked.  
“Not important. Are Yoyo and Juli home?”, he just loved how her attention and priorities were focused when they talked, he had heard from many boys that they never wanted to talk with their sisters, because they only ever wanted to talk about themselves, Cyrus was the best example, his sister was barely older than Amanda and he loved her, but he dreaded her phone calls. Derek had never understood them, Amanda was his world, and it was a fight to get something out of her about her own day, she only ever wanted to talk about him and Dalton, and of course Logan and Julian. 

Smiling to himself, Derek slipped into a pair of pants, snatched his phone from his desk and made his way into the anteroom again.  
“Yeah, they are, Panda. But really, how was school?”, knocking on the door next to his, Logans soft approval answered the biggest question.  
“Derek, I don`t want to talk about my school right now.”, Julian and Logan both looked up with raised eyebrows, when he stepped into their room and the first thing they heard was Amanda berating him on his manners in such a stern voice that she could have only learned from their mother, Derek rolled his eyes.  
“Okay, okay, Panda. I`m shutting up, alright? Jesus Christ, you`re always so demanding.”, letting his eyes once again trail over the picture on the wall, it just looked so great, and promising, Derek waited for his sister to come up with another witty comeback, they had trained her good, but Logan was quicker.  
“She is your sister, what are you expecting.”, he called out, glaring at Derek, when his friend flipped him the finger, Amanda squealed in glee.  
“Yoyo!”

“Hi, Manda. What did mean old Derek do now?”, Logan was in good spirits, sitting on his bed, still halfway tucked under the blankets, he had propped up some pillows behind his back and had been scribbling away on his notebook, tablet balanced on his legs. Julian had left his laptop behind and was sprawled out over the other bed, and with surprised eyes, Derek found a notebook and a pencil in his hands, he hadn`t seen the actor sketching something or someone in a very long time. He walked over to Logans bed and flopped down at the end, placing the phone next to himself.  
“He wants to know about my day.”, they could easily picture her with a scrunched up nose and brown eyes rolled to the heavens as she huffed her reply.

“How dare you, Derek?”, Julian took Amandas side as always, looking so profoundly offended that it could have looked sincere if it hadn`t been for the grin in his eyes, Derek huffed.  
“Juli, does your foot still hurt?”, Derek was pouting like a toddler on Logans bed, while Julian grinned at him and jumped into reassuring his friends little sister that his foot was still hurt, but it was gonna be okay, and when Amanda launched into the Spanish inquisition and wanted to know about every last ouchie the actor had, Logan leaned closer to Derek.

“She is a heaven sent angel, you know?”, Derek smiled, uncrossing his arms, he flopped back onto the bed, placing his head on Logans feet.  
“I know.”, but Derek wasn`t thinking about the picture in Logans head, while the prefect was focused on the loopsided grin on Julians face, on the bubbling laugh tumbling from his lips, on the warm feeling he got in his own chest, when he heard her excited squeals, Derek was thinking of the forty four year old man living in New York City, who had struggled with knowing who he was himself suddenly, until he had spent one weekend with Amanda and was on the right path again, a path that could finally give Logan the family he deserved. Yeah, his sister was an angel. Logan was next in Amandas mission on listing down every ouchie, and with a smile on his face, Logan tried to explain where it hurt and how his head was tired a little.

“Uh!”, Amanda called out some minutes later, after she had told her big brother to make sure Julian and Logan sleep enough, something both boys had cashed in with a huff, Derek really didn`t need even more encouragement, “Bear, did I tell you about the Take-your-kid-to-work project we have in school?”, Derek racked his brain for information, but the last two weeks had justled everything so much that he came up blank.  
“Maybe, Panda, bear has a lot on his mind right now.”, bracing himself for the outraged disapproval, even Julian and Logan were holding their breaths, Derek waited for his sister scream of annoyance, but it never came.  
“Well.”, Amanda started with a shaking voice, you could hear the excitement in it, “I can`t come with Daddy, because it is not allowed to bring children to his buildings, and Mommy doesn`t work.”, anymore, Derek added with a bitter scowl, Logan patted his shoulder in comfort, “So, we had to find someone else for me.”  
“Couldn`t you go with one of your friends?”, Julian wanted to know, narrowing his eyes at the sketch in his hands, when the shadows looked stranger with every brush.

“That would be stupid, Julian.”, Logan and Derek snickered upon the offended tone in Amandas voice, and the puzzled look on the actors face, it was never good to be called by your real name with her, those nicknames had been branded into them, right from the beginning, “Then I would make the same talk as my friend... But I already asked someone.”, that was new, Derek startled in surprise, his sister was a hurricane of energy and sunshine whenever she had visited them here or they had taken her to the Hamptons with them and she had met some of their friends, she talked a mile an hour, loved to embarrass them with little stories, and was overall so adorable and polite that everyone fell in love with her. She was already Stuarts honorary princess. But when it came to adults, his sister was completely different, she never said a word, clung to his fathers or his hands and tried to hide as much as possible, so he was surprised that she had apparently asked some of his fathers friends, because the only friends his mother had were housewives.

“Who did you ask?”, he knew his father had some friends who worked in places, where kids were allowed, Amanda chuckled, as if the question itself was utterly stupid.  
“Uncle John will take me to the office with him.”  
“Panda, we don`t have an uncle...”, and the realization hit them all at once, in all their heads the light went on, and it left them stunned beyond comparison. Derek froze with his mouth and eyes wide open, staring at his phone. Logan snapped his head up, green eyes mixed between confusion and shock, his fingers still pressed on the tablet, fucking up the whole to do list he had written. Julian dropped his pencil and mouthed the word “uncle” over and over again, staring towards Logan.

“Uncle John?”

“Yes, Juli. I asked him yesterday, and he said he needed to check if it is okay, but he called yesterday evening again. And I will get a card with my name and my picture on it. Isn`t that cool, bear? And Uncle John said I can order some people around, because they won`t be able to say no to me. I`m so excited, bear.”, Amanda was clapping her hands, but bear was still staring dumbfounded at his phone, so Julian jumped in, he seemed to be the only one able to move.  
“It certainly sounds exciting, Am. When did you start calling him Uncle John?”, because for him that was the real question here, he didn`t care about her reasons, Amanda was smart, she only did these things with purpose, each name had a meaning with her. She was a lot like the twins in that compartment, people who were called by their real names were lower on her radar, you needed a nickname to be sure she cared about you.  
“Friday. He looked really sad all the time.”, Logan closed his eyes, “But he smiled again after I called him Uncle John, and I want people to be happy. Yoyo, is it okay if I call him that?”, blinking his eyes open again, Logan broke out of whatever daze he had crept into.  
“Of course, Manda, of course, it`s okay.”, nudging Derek with both feet, Logan let his friend snap back into the present.

Amanda had to say goodbye to them soon after that revelation, for she was faced with homework and Ernest wanted her to finish it before dinner, so they promised to call again soon enough and fell into silence, after the phone call had been disconnected. Julian was staring at Logan, waiting for any kind of reaction that told him how he felt about it, truly felt about it, Derek was looking at his phone, trying to wrap his head around the whole situation in New York. And Logan was blindly staring out of the window, the thoughts in his head were rather clear.  
“Considering that none of you are going to address the elephant in the room.”, Julian held his gaze, when Logan looked his way quickly, but Derek avoided green eyes, Logan pushed his legs out from under the blanket, forcing Derek to sit up again. The blond boy pushed a hand over his face, turning around so he would sit next to Derek, “I need to speak with my father.”  
“No.”, Dereks protest was imminent, Julian looked between them, seeing Logans eyebrows raise up, temper flaring to the surface.  
“Excuse me? No? Derek, he is my father, and he is obviously struggling. He is hurt. I`m not saying that I will apologize for anything, because trust me, I won`t. I did what I needed to do, and now I need to talk to him.”, Derek turned his head around to look at him, jaw set, brown eyes hard and calculating, it was a match of stubbornness.

“It`s not a good idea.”  
“Don`t start fighting, guys!”, Julian begged them, when green eyes had started to narrow in on Dereks face, “Please don`t.”, standing up, Julian sat down between them, taking Logans hands into his own, “Logan is right, D. It`s his father, he can make the decision to talk to him again whenever he wants to.”, the coldness melted away in brown eyes, when Julian looked at Derek, “And, Lo. Maybe give him some more time until he had really figured out what he wants. You talked to Michelle and your grandfather, he is trying.”, Logan dropped his head, his gaze falling to their hands.  
“What if he tries so much, so hard that he comes to the point, where he realizes that it`s better to give up.”, Derek sighed and moved up on the bed to sit behind Logan, leaning his head onto Logans shoulder, Julian pulled him close, with one arms around the blond boys waist.  
“It`s always easy to give up. And if he wasn`t so hellbent on building up a healthy relationship with you for once, he could have already given up. He wants to do this right, Lo. Maybe you`ll get your father back sooner than you think.”, Logan dropped his head into the crook of Julians neck and staid like that for a while. It was still a long way to moving past Hell Night.

When it was time for the bonfire, the three of them put on some warmer sweatshirts and went down to the small stone circle in the middle of the grounds between the houses, where some boys had already pulled up some tables and benches, Bailey had built a music station and Merril was slapping Drews and Saturos fingers away from the punch table. Charlie and Justin were keeping a hold of both twins, while Blaine and Danny lit the bonfire. Once they were spotted, a lot of people wanted to greet Logan and Julian, welcome them home properly, so Derek left them alone and went over to Marcus, to get over the imminent questions concerning the post it notes in his room before the night went on.

Ten minutes later, he found himself approached by Bailey as he got another cup of punch, “They look happy.”, Derek looked up from his cup, when Bailey spoke up next to him, following the younger boys eyes, he found Logan talking with both twins, sitting on the ground, propped up against one of the benches, Julian sitting between his legs, leaned back against his chest, chatting away with Reed and Kurt on his other side. It looked peaceful, both of them were smiling, no guards up, no walls between their true emotions and the here and now.  
“It`s a picture you could get used to.”, he nodded, turning around to face the younger Stuart, “Listen, Bailey... I never got to thank you.”, but Bailey quickly shook his head, waved the gratitude away, before Derek could have continued his sentence.  
“Don`t Derek, you don`t need to thank me for anything. I did this because you guys are my friends, we are one house, and I just did what anybody should have done. There is no need to thank me. I got your back, god knows, with those two around, you will always need someone with a sane head.”, Bailey said, raising his cup higher, he waited until Derek smirked and pushed his cup against his.

“I still appreciate what you did. Marcus and you.”, nodding again Bailey gave Derek a little push back into the crowd, before he walked back to the little music station he had built up, Riley looked up, when he flopped back down in the chair.  
“What`s that stupid grin on your face?”, the day student wanted to know, Bailey shrugged, his eyes catching onto Dereks carefree face, when Marcus slumped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him to the table, where Cyrus and Lawrence were preparing for a game of poker. Logan had curled both arms around Julians waist and was laughing loudly about something the twins had pointed out to him, he looked so happy and at peace with the world as Bailey had never seen him before.  
“I`m back home with my family, Riley, I don`t need a reason to be happy.”, Riley looked at him for a second, before he let his eyes switch back up to the crowd of boys and girls around them.

And it was the truth, Dalton was a family, and with Logan and Julian back home, their family was complete again, with one big change. Because their family had become bigger, and it wasn`t the girls mingling with the boys, walking so easily and comfortable around them. It wasn`t wrecked up friendships being repaired, as Blaine sat down cross legged on the bench Logan was leaning against and reached out for him to take one of the cups in his hands, it wasn`t the way Logan smiled at him and then started catching him up on whatever the twins had told him while the Windsor boy had been gone to fetch something more to drink for them. It wasn`t Casey curiously looking over Dereks shoulder, where he had joined the boys game of poker, until he rolled his eyes, slid further to the side, so she could climb in between Marcus and him. It wasn`t the flair of love in the air, after everything that had gone wrong in the last weeks, it wasn`t Merril fussing over Spencer and Danny by the fire, it wasn`t Jeff with that crowd of giggling girls around him, it wasn`t Charlie and Hope slowly swaying to the music. 

It was much easier, their family had grown and tonight, they had welcomed a whole new group of boys into their arms, for Stuarts, Windsors and Hanovers were laughing along the day students, and there was no sign anymore of boarders and them, it wasn`t one group against the other anymore. Losing Dalton had been on all their minds, they would have all lost more than a school, and now they all knew that something needed to change, they needed to work together. Logan may have saved Dalton on his own, but building their school back up, becoming even stronger, it was going to be a joined effort. Shown easily, when it was Justin, sitting with Sidney on a table not far from them, still looking a little feverish, but calm, comfortable with himself again, whatever had been eating at him, he must have worked it out, Bailey thought to himself, when Hanovers prefect jumped to his feet and raised his cup. Bailey quickly lowered the musics volume.

“I`ll make this quick, promise.”, he called over the chatting of the boys and girls, who quickly shut up, “Wright, come up here.”, Logan, glaring with green eyes at the Hanover, didn`t give a sign of standing up, even though Julian already moved from his lap and let Reed and Kurt help him to his feet, there was no sign of humiliation in Stuarts prefect eyes. Derek might have still been the acting one, still taking the bigger responsibilities away from him, but Bailey wasn`t stupid, Logan had changed, it was easy to see for all of them. Something had awakened in him, and with Julian at his side, he was even more invincible than before, but at the same time, for once he was fully content just to swim in the background, “Don`t act so surprised, we talked about this.”, Justin almost sang, throwing a grin his way. Charlie, who had left Hope behind with Katherine and David, had calmly walked over to Logan, who was still the only one sitting down, and had reached out a hand.

Bailey knew it was a sign for a new start for all of them, when it was Windsors prefect who pulled Stuarts counterpart to his feet and pushed him over to Justin, Sidney had gladly hurried over to her brother, Merril and Danny. Once Logan and Charlie had climbed on the table along with him, Justin continued, “Now, where Julian and Logan are back home again.”, boys started cheering, the Stuarts hollered, “I think it`s time to utter some words of gratitude to the boy who saved our school and our home.”, he raised his cup, “So thank you, Logan.”, said boy rolled his eyes, but took the raised cups and the cheers and screams with a small smile, “We have been through hell and back, and we all know there is still a lot to work on, but Dalton is saved, and we should drink to that... But!”, Justin stopped the boys and girls who had already set to close in on their cups, he grinned, and then even Logan and Charlie smirked, “We can`t drink to this if we don`t have everybody up here, who should be up here.”, and the confusion raced through their ranks, voices started whispering, “We were betrayed from within, we almost lost our school, because a stupid war had pulled us too far apart already. We know it can`t just disappear with the snap of fingers, but we can work together to make sure that Dalton will never have to face such catastrophic moments again. This is our home, this is our school and we are a family. And we have to let those people out there know that we are a force to be reckoned with.”, more cheers, Justin looked to Logan, and Bailey knew that he would probably never forget what the blond boy said next.

“We lost someone two weeks ago. Harvey died in that fire because he went in to save us, he went in regardless of which house we belonged to, which clubs we belonged to. It didn`t matter to him if there was a badge on your blazer, if it was red, or blue, or yellow. He went into the fire, because he knew we needed him. And I won`t let his legacy die with him. Harvey died for us, and we should honor his bravery and his compassion by working together to make Dalton an even better, an even stronger school. Stuarts and Windsors will still be at each others throats, but it`s what comes out in the end that counts, it`s Dalton what counts. And for the last years, something was forgotten. It`s not just Hanovers, Windsors and Stuarts in this school, we are not alone, and losing Dalton would not have been a great loss just for us.”, and green eyes flew around until they settled on the face of the boy sitting next to Bailey, “The war is not over. We saved our school, but we have to fight to built it up again just the way we want it, we have to make sure that we have the loudest voice, because this is our school, and not our fathers. And that counts for us boarding students just as much as for the day students. We fucked it up, Adam was our mess.”, the air was brizzling with anticipation as Logan and Riley Page stared at each other, “And we apologize that you almost lost your school, because of a mistake you didn`t make. So, what do you say, wanna come up here, prefect?”

The reaction was imminent, the day students started screaming, Hanovers, Windsors and Stuarts cheering along, while Riley Page was grinning from one ear to another, when he jumped to his feet, not letting the invitation pass over twice in his head, letting Justin and Logan pull him up to the table, “To Harvey and Dalton!”

The mood only got even better from then on, Bailey turned up the music and more people started to dance, under his friends surprised eyes, Logan exchanged some words with Blaine, before he made his way over to the silent Windsor boy hidden behind his black hair, sitting on a table furthest away from the craziness.  
“Do it.”, Logan prompted when he was close enough and Dwight narrowed his eyebrows in confusion, Logans lips curled into a small smile as he pointed one pale finger at Dwights left hand that had raised itself without Dwight really intending to, his subconsciousness jumping on alert, raising the holy water spray and the small amount of salt he had kept in his palm after the twins and Todd had dragged him outside. Looking from his hand back to Stuarts prefect, who still calmly stood in front of him, waiting for something Dwight wasn`t so sure he understood right.  
“You... want me to spray you?”, he questioned the other boy, who nodded without blinking, but Dwight did, looking into those green eyes that looked down at him in patience and curiosity, and when he couldn`t find any sign for ridicule or stupid pranks, he raised an eyebrow, “Why?”, it was probably bordering on questioning the older boys sanity, but Dwight couldn`t help but get defensive, none of the boys had ever asked him to test for demonic spirits, no one except for Todd, but he was used to much more extreme measures from him now.  
“I want to talk to you.”, Logan mentioned casually, “And I want you to be comfortable, which you don`t look right now, so spray me, throw that salt stuff at me. If it sets you at ease, who am I to take it away from you.”, Dwight didn`t hesitate, or at least his body didn`t, his mind was still trying to work through what Logan had said, but his hand was already moving, but Logan only closed his eyes when the salt hit his chest and the water dripped down his face, pushing a hand over it to wipe the rest of the water away, when it was over, “You`re good now?”, Dwight nodded in trance, shifting a little to the side, when Logan sat down next to him.

“Am I hallucinating?”, Derek looked up, when he heard Justins voice next to him, but he shook his head smiling, shifting on the bench so Charlie and Justin could sit down.  
“No, you`re not. He wanted to talk to Houston, didn`t say about what, but I felt it was best not to push it.”, he explained, watching Logan calmly talk to the smaller hunter.  
“He seems happy... elated...”, Derek smiled again, catching the yawn Julian hid behind a raised hand, before he turned to look at Charlie.  
“He is back home, he`s got Julian, there is barely anything that could make him happier.”  
“Let`s hope he gives Dwight the same feeling.”, Windsors prefect sighed, you could easily see how worried he still was, how much he was still trying to get Dwight away from the dark cloud that was still hovering over him.

On the other side of their little gathering, a little off to the side, Dwight was looking intendly at the those powerful green eyes.  
“I`m not saying you should just forget about all of it, Dwight. It happened, we can`t change it back, no matter how much we want to. But we can do one thing for him, we can never forget what he did, for us. Harvey would want us to move on, to live, it`s the sole reason he ran in to save us, so we could live.”, Dwight pushed a hand over his face, while Logan watched him.  
“How can I?”, the younger boy started, the desperation and defeated hopelessness showing on his face, eyes so lost, “How can I move past it, when I see it on all their faces? When I know that even though they don`t say it, they all believe in it. That I am to blame, that Harvey died because of me?”, the hand on his shoulder came so suddenly, the hold so strong, there was nothing Dwight could have done then to look up at the other boy.  
“Listen to me, Dwight. It`s not your fault. You didn`t kill him, Harvey did not die because of you, he died saving us. He had a choice, and he chose to die for us. And if anyone ever thinks he has to blame this on you, if anyone ever dares to get under your skin for anything, no matter what it is, you come to me. No thinking, no hesitating, you come straight to me and I will deal with it. I am so sick of people always telling us what we can`t be, what we have to become. We are us, you and me, we are different, and we have to keep together to show them that they can`t push us down. I`m not promising you that I won´t get angry because of what you do, but I can promise you that no one will talk bad about you again. So, any bullying, any bad words, any pointed looks, you tell me. Promise?”, Dwight was stunned for a while, Logan looked so sincere, and with a startled gasp almost, he realized why those green eyes looked so dead serious, he cared. Logan cared about him. 

He nodded, even if a little hesitant, Logan smiled and clapped his shoulder once, before he stood up, “Be strong, don`t lose hope. You`re still needed. I gotta go now.”, he gestured to a tired looking Julian leaning against Derek by the fire, both boys were looking towards them, it was clear they wanted to go back to Stuart to end the night alone, just the three of them.  
“Logan?”, Dwight called after the retreating prefect, waiting until Logan had turned around again, before he continued, “Why are you doing this? I`m not one of you.”  
“I`m looking out for you, because someone else can`t do it anymore, I will try and make him proud. It`s what Harvey would have wanted me to do.”, and Logan gave him one last smile, one Dwight returned without hesitation, before Stuarts prefect nodded and turned back around. Dwight still watched him go for a moment, how Logan caught up to Julian and Derek, pushed an arm around the actors waist, so he could lean some weight on him, Derek falling into step on his other side. Smiling to himself some more, Dwight turned back around to the other Windsors, when the Stuart Trio vanished in the darkness, smirking at Todd, when his roommate flopped down on the table next to him, holding out another red cup, Dwight accepted without blinking. He was right about it, not giving up, maybe the time wasn`t right yet, there was still so much to do, and if the only thing coming out of this was to see Logan finding himself, then it sure as hell would be worth it.


	6. Redemption Part 1

Part I

The nightmares start during their second night back, the clock had passed midnight two hours ago, when Julian startled, awoken by a terrifying scream, and when he looked around after having scrambled over to the lamp on his nightstand, he was faced with Logan. Logan, who had drawn his knees to his chest, pushed his face against them, one hand holding onto his legs, the other one being splayed out over his forehead. Logan, who was breathing so heavily it was not difficult to figure out who had screamed. Logan, who was completely soaked through, shaking from what Julian couldn't really decipher right away, fear or cold, it could have been both. Willing his own heart to stop racing, Julian hurried over to the boy with the blond hair, halfway kneeling down on the other boys bed, carefully reaching out a hand to place on Logans knee.

Logan jumped and let out another scream, before his eyes fell on Julian face, red shot, he had been crying, green orbs completely terrified, in the room next to them something thumped.  
“Jules...”, his voice was barely audible, just a weak scratch of sound, and he reached out a shaking hand in the half dark room.  
“Shh, shh, Lo, it's okay.”, Julian rushed forward and pulled him into his arms, “It's okay.”, he mumbled, Logan fell against him, shivering, shaking, trying to breathe through his quiet sobs, the door opened to reveal Dereks sleepy face, that quickly sobered up upon seeing them. He was across the room and sitting down on Logans other side within the blink of an eye, and together they managed to calm him down.

But this dream was only the first, and as it turned out later, it would be one of the most harmless, and even after they had settled down for the night again, they would not get any more sleep, because even though they were both exhausted, Julian and Derek kept constant vigil at Logans side, while the blond boy slept restless and shaking. And he would wake up screaming three more times before the sun rose and bathed the room in light sunlight, and Julian couldn't stop wondering if this was only the start of a horrible journey back to normalcy.

Lessons weren't back on for another week, but Dalton students were still busy all day long, lists were still being written, plans were made, comfort was given, and as gossip spread like wildfire, by lunchtime everyone knew about the screams piercing through the night in Stuart House, and even though none of the Stuart Trio stepped outside the anteroom that day, every single student knew they had dark bags under their eyes, but through whatever magic, they were still blank on who had suffered through the nightmares, and maybe it was for the best.

Because it only got worse.

The next night, Derek didn't even leave for his own room, instead choosing to stay right with them when Logan fell asleep watching a movie, out cold by pure exhaustion. When he was awake, he was trying not to show how much it was affecting him, tried to keep his face in front of the other boys, but he didn't leave Stuart House at all. Quite on the contrary, the hours he did not spend showering Julian with affection and attention, he was watching the other boys in the common room, and sometimes Derek was left wondering just what was going on behind green eyes when they followed Thad or Nick around the common room.

Logan had told them that he wanted to do right where he had done wrong before, that becoming a better prefect was on his agenda as well, and there, hiding in the doorway of the kitchen, Derek could see the first signs of it. The blond boy had never particularly shown any interest in the boys of his house before, not unless they insulted or made fun of his friends, but back then the general mood in Stuart had been different. A bunch of boys more interested in the competition between each other than with the other houses, that was history now.  
United.

Derek was not stupid, he knew it was not only the shock of losing two of its most famous members and almost their school that had united them again, but also whatever work Marcus had invested in them. In this twisted game of kings and thrones, Logan had always been wearing the crown, but Marcus had done the work, had been the one the boys had reached out towards when problems had arisen. 

Marcus. A former Windsor boy had united their house again.

The irony of it all was not lost on Derek, but he was grateful for the most part, it had taken one more thing from his shoulders, Marcus had achieved what he had never dared to try, unite a group of stubborn, selfish, competitive and overachieving boys, and not against a common enemy, but to become stronger for each other. And even if it was slow and hesitant, with Marcus stepping back into the shadows again, they slowly turned to look to Logan and him for directions again.

It had been a power play over twenty years ago, and it still was one now, but Logan had never lost control, and it was the most important thing somehow. His best friend needed to know that he was needed as a leader, that he was loved by his friends and respected by his peers, only like that could he finally escape the dark cloud that kept on following him.

And the one thing Derek had learned from all of it: To never let Marcus become his enemy.

Fire. It was everywhere, flames licking at his clothes, the hot fiery wall burning his feet. Fire. So much fire. Eyes darting around, trying to find a way out, trying to find release. No way out. Trapped. Trapped in the fire. Flames, touching him, his skin burning, his skin on fire. So hot, too hot. He needed to get out. He couldn't breathe, the air was thick with ash and fire. So much fire. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't breathe...

The scream ripping through Logans chest was terrifying and toe curling, green eyes flying open, his arms flying up to fight against the barriers, fight against the fire, he needed to get out, he couldn't be trapped, he couldn't be trapped...  
“Logan!”, voice, a voice, Derek's voice, “Logan, it's okay. You're okay. You're home.”, it was so quiet, and someone was screaming, why was there someone screaming, and where was the fire, “Logan.”, he was still struggling against what he recognized as arms now, arms pinning him down onto a bed, more than just one pair. And there was Dereks face, hovering over him, and his lips were moving, but why couldn't he hear him, “Logan, it's okay. You're not in the fire anymore...”, and Derek looked at something behind his head, “Julian, talk to him. He needs to stop screaming.”, Logan couldn't understand what he was talking about, they needed to get out of this trap.

“Lo, it's okay.”, and suddenly there was a warm pair of hands stroking over his face, Derek moved away, making room for someone else, making room for his Jules, and it only took one look at sepia brown eyes for the fire in Logans head to disappear, “You can stop screaming, Lo, it's okay, we're safe. We're home.”

Derek had barely stepped out of Logans and Julians room, leaving his blond friend in the arms of his boyfriend to breathe for a moment and find them some coffee, when the door to the anteroom opened and revealed Marcus Holland, wearing sweatpants and a worn out shirt, carrying a tray with three steaming cups of coffee, sugar cubes and cream, “There is a pot downstairs I'll get it up right away.”, with his gentle voice and the warm blue eyes, Marcus was the boy Derek had sought out in the last year whenever his mind had troubled him too much, was the word of wisdom whenever he had thought to lose his own soul with his friends craziness, calmly pushing his hands away when Derek reached for the tray, the dark haired boy smiled, “I made enough coffee to get you through the rest of the night.”, he said, “I'll bring it up to Logan and Julian, while you go and take a quick shower, trust me it will help. And once the sun is up, you will come down to my room and lay down for a while, and I'm not having no for an answer.”

“Who says I will listen to you?”, he was too tired too fight, and Marcus knew it, knew him, maybe even better than his own best friends by now.  
“I will make you if I have to.”, with the hard edge in his voice, blue eyes turning to steel, Marcus was the boy who had held Stuart together without them knowing, bringing them together when they had still been neck deep in their own mess, but it didn't hold long, blue eyes turned sympathetic again, “I know you want to help them, Rick. I understand, but you cannot help anyone if you are dead on your feet again. Get some rest. Let Julian take care of Logan for some hours, they can use some time alone and you need to sleep.”

“I can't.”, Marcus opened his mouth to protest again, so Derek used his hand to grab his wrist, pressing down on the muscles, “I tried, Marc, I tried.”  
“I still have some sleeping pills left, you can take one of them.”, Derek went to protest, but Marcus cut right over him again, stepping by him and walking over to Logans and Julians room. And twenty minutes later, Julian and Logan were confused, but alright for the moment, so Derek let himself be dragged downstairs and pushed into the small bathroom that Marcus dorm room provided, knowing that once he stepped out of it again and dared to go back into the anteroom, his best friends would have more than just some questions waiting.

Quiet.

It was the one word that Julian would use to describe Logan with in those days, and it also was the word he never expected he would have to use to describe his best friend and boyfriend. In the past two and a half years, Logan had been many things, but quiet had certainly never been one of them. Still, it fit now, because Logan was quiet and calm and pensive, lost in thought many times.

He wasn't okay, and Julian knew they still had a long way to go until everything and everyone felt back to normal, things would never be how it was before, and none of them even wanted it to. They had changed, the world had changed, now they needed to let go and move on.

His own injury was healing, stuck in a walking cast, his foot was able to bear his weight for short distances, which meant that he could ignore the crutches inside Stuart House in order to walk around with a barely visible limp, but he wasn't so vain, he knew he needed to give himself time and rest, the crutches still his best friends outside of the House and whenever Derek was around to snap at him to use them.

Logans nightmares though terrified him, but not because of what he could be dreaming about, but because it showed him every single time that Logan wasn't invincible, and he hated it. But even now he was the only one Julian could look upon, even in this state of nightly terror, Julian knew exactly how powerful and dangerous Logan could be, and everyone else did , too.

Dalton had been a game of power, rights and prestige since before they had even been born, and though Julian had never honestly cared for authorities and pretended to be amused by hierarchy and thrones, he knew his place in Daltons inner food chain, and he knew even better what kind of influence his boyfriend had.

And he could see respect when there was some. And Stuarts boys had it in abundance for one Logan Wright. Julian was able to see it again when he stepped down into the kitchen to get some water, and three sophomores had his hands filled with water bottles before he had even finished his question. 

Well, or it was fear, but Julian didn't really care about what got the job done as long as it was done. He was different in that aspect, different than his two best friends. Derek with his morals and higher ground, who only saw the work done, when he had gotten his own hands dirty. And Logan with the cunning strategies and don't-trust-anyone-but-yourself attitude in his head, who only saw the work finished and complete after every single body in the basement had been gotten rid of.

Logan was quiet, but he was still his best friend and still had his heart beating faster whenever sepia eyes spotted the boy with the blond hair. They were changed, for the better, they had still many things to work out and nobody was ever perfect, but Julian knew they both would very much try.

“Julian?”, snapping from his thoughts and turning his eyes to the kitchen door, the actor blinked at the boy with the dark brown hair, “Derek is asleep in my room. I don't think he'll wake up for at least another three hours, so...”, nodding, Julian felt a first smile of the day bloom on his face, he barely knew the other boy, was puzzled beyond imagination about Dereks close understanding with him, but it didn't mean he, they weren't grateful for some time alone when it presented itself.

He loved Derek, he really did, but sometimes his overbearing mothering instincts were reason number one for angry snapping and yells, especially when his pampering concerned two boys who had more or less grown up without ever knowing a loving mother.  
“Thank you, Holland.”, names, he had to start learning names if he wanted to become a more central role in his house, names, Julian, names, “I really appreciate it, Marcus.”, soft smile in return, nailed it, Larson.

Bailey stopped him at the bottom of the stairs, asking after Logan and smiling with thin lips, Julian tells him not to worry too much and give him time, when it started. A small melody growing in volume, unsure hands finding the rhythm after some hesitant chords, and it was as if time stood still for a moment.

Stuart stilled. For a moment, all boys stopped their doings and looked up, smiles falling over faces, and Marcus even chuckled as he walked by Julian with two muffins in his hands on his way back to his room.

The moment the music reached his ears, Julian leaned his head back, closed his eyes and laughed, the warmth spreading through his veins. Quiet or not, Logan was the boy he had fallen in love with. And quiet or not, Logan could still turn music into magic.

You're a falling star, You're the get away car.   
You're the line in the sand when I go too far.   
You're the swimming pool, on an August day.   
And you're the perfect thing to say. 

He was sitting behind the piano, when Julian closed the door of the anteroom behind himself, fingers flying over the keys, while his voice brought emotions to life that Julian sometimes had only known through him. He was still Logan, and he would always be Logan.

Smiling and with a heart beating faster, Julian walked over to him, slipping onto the small bench beside him when Logan caught his eyes and nodded to his right. He played on, without sheets, without notes, trusting his ears alone as his lips formed the words to a song Julian had never before dared to even dream about hearing from him, least of all directed to him.

But it was, the song was for him.

And you play it coy, but it's kinda cute.   
Ah, When you smile at me you know exactly what you do.   
Baby don't pretend, that you don't know it's true.   
Cause you can see it when I look at you. 

And he did, looked up and caught Julians eyes again, and sang for him. Julian lost every control he could have had over the grin on his face, and he smiled and beamed. It was more than he ever wanted, Logans attention on him, a song just for him. Logans mind and heart only filled with thoughts of him.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times   
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.   
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything. 

They had a long way to go, careful steps into a new life, but together and never apart again, never again fighting against each other, but together from now on. And Julian found himself singing along when Logan started the second chorus, and if possible, green eyes lightened up even more.

You're a carousel, you're a wishing well,   
And you light me up, when you ring my bell.   
You're a mystery, you're from outer space,   
You're every minute of my everyday.   
And I can't believe, uh that I'm your man,   
And I get to kiss you baby just because I can.   
Whatever comes our way, ah we'll see it through,   
And you know that's what our love can do. 

The music swelled, and Julian shifted closer to Logan, leaning his head on his shoulder and letting one hand slip under the blond boys shirt. Logan didn't even show the surprise, his fingers continued to flawlessly play the song.

And in this crazy life, and through these crazy times   
It's you, it's you, You make me sing.   
You're every line, you're every word, you're everything.   
You're every song, and I sing along.   
'Cause you're my everything. 

And when the song ended and Logans fingers left he black and white keys, they moved in sync, both getting to their feet, hands slipping under shirts and around waists, and Julian finds Logans lips with an ease that should have been surprising to him.

But it wasn't, because he knew Logan, because Logan knew him. Inside out. And even though they were taking it slow, Julian was still aware that Logan could already play him just as good as the piano. Maybe even better.

“Room.”, Logan breathed against his neck as they pulled apart when Julian gasped for air, stupid singer lungs, tugging on the taller boys shirt again, the actor demanded lips on his skin, Logan instantly let his own grace over the smaller boys pulse point.  
“Derek is asleep. With Marcus.”, Julian gasped out as Logan pulled him flush against him upon hearing that they were truly alone.

“Don't care, privacy, alone. Room.”, and he pulled back, ignoring the complaining whine that got pulled from Julians lips, they hadn't truly had time to enjoy the luxuries of having a shared room until now, mostly because Derek was very persistent on refusing to leave them alone. Marcus Holland surely was a golden treasure.

Logan pulled on his hand and Julian blindly stumbled along, eyes glued to swollen lips and ravished blond hair. Him. All for him. And no one else.

The door falls shut behind them and Julian onto the bed within seconds of them stepping into the room, and Julian has positively forgotten about the previously started conversation about prefect duties and why Logan was so fixed on getting the boys loyalty by the time Logan has straddled his hips and glued their lips together again.

And a heavy make-out session later, Julian laid breathlessly in the pillows, blanket pulled up over his shirtless body, with Logan looking smug and quite happy on his side next to him.  
“Don't look so content.”, Logan laughs and dipped his head into the crook of Julians neck again, inhaling his scent.

“It's not my fault I can hold my breath longer than you can.”, all Julian could do was to stick his tongue out, Logan rolled his eyes, but then he suddenly got silent again, and Julian turned his head to the side. Green eyes were staring into empty space.

“I want this. I want you.”, he began silently, his voice only a whisper, “I don't want this to turn into ten minutes affairs whenever Marcus drags Derek away in their weird arrangements. I want this to be us.”, and he intertwined his right hand with Julians left, holding onto him like a drowning man in the ocean, and Julian searched his eyes.  
“We will have this. This is not forever. We will move past this.”, and Julian slipped his leg between Logans under the blanket.

“When? Ever since we came back, I can't shake up the feeling that it is only getting worse.”, squeezing his hand, Julian tried to not show how much the desperation in Logans voice shook him to the core, he could understand how hard it was. Sometimes he could still see Adams face lurking behind a corner, but the moments became less and less already and he was sure Logans nightmares would dull soon enough.

"You're not alone in this, Lo. Keep holding on.", he promised and pleaded with his boyfriend, who pushed his head closer again and pressed a quick kiss to his shoulder, eyes squeezed shut for a second, before they opened again, and Logan pushed himself up onto his elbows.  
“You're gonna be there all the way?”, he wanted to know, looking down at him with that lopsided smile again and the eternal warmth and devotion in his eyes.  
“I'm gonna be here with you forever.”, Julian promised with a soft voice, and Logan leaned down to capture his lips anew, only stopping when Julian pushed him away to gasp for breath.

“Oh my god, you're an animal.”, Logan chuckled and closed his eyes in pure amusement, maybe all their words couldn't yet find their way into his head and give him the assurance and the confidence he needed to work through these nightmares, but Julian could at least make sure his days were filled with distractions.

Needless to say he wasn't complaining about it either.

 

“Why don`t you give those to me?”, Derek whipped up his head, when Logans voice reached his ears, turning around on his chair, he raised his eyebrows. The blond was leaning against the open door of his dorm room, wearing sweatpants and a simple shirt, he looked relaxed again, even if still too tired for the alarm bells in Dereks head to stop ringing.  
“Are you serious?”, he couldn`t stop himself from speaking, hastily trying to come up with an excuse when green eyes started to narrow, if there was one thing that even a fire and comas couldn`t change, then it was Logans temper, “Lo, you know how Marcus can be, I can deal with him.”, which was the truth, simple and easy, his best friend knew Marcus had the tendency to go insane over details, everything he did was accurate to the point of hilarity.   
“I'm aware of that.”, Logan deadpanned, and Derek almost winced, there hadn't been time yet to talk about that particular news with his best friends, “Don't treat me like glass, D. I'm not okay, I get it, not being able to sleep is a dead giveaway, but can we please just pretend for some hours that everything is okay. Give me those notes, let me deal with it, please.”, what had started as an annoyed snap had quickly turned into a begging wish for routines and normalcy, and if nothing else, then it showed Derek how much everything was not okay still. Logan and begging did not go into one sentence together without something really being wrong, but instead of pushing any further, Derek tried himself at a careful smirk, he knew when to hold back.

“You`re really going to take this prefect thing serious again, aren't you?”, Logans mouth flapped open and shut within one further step into the room, already reaching out for the scraps of paper with Marcus notes, which Derek had previously been brooding over.  
“How many times will I have to repeat myself over this... Yes, I will take it serious. It's time for me to stop making mistakes. And besides, we all know you need a time out.”, and with one strong pull, Logan all but wrenched the folder with Marcus notes from Dereks hands, having the brunet scowl at him.

Sitting cross legged in the middle of the empty and cleaned out dorm room, Justin had his hands folded in his lap and his eyes closed in concentration. The bare room around him gave a sense of almost uncomfortable emptiness, even the walls were stripped of their tapestry and only covered with simple white paint, the carpet had also been pulled off and so he was sitting only on the old wooden floor boards. The only other thing in the room with him was an old worn book, placed neatly in front of his legs, and the tall boy leaning against the door frame with one eyebrow raised over blue eyes.

“Are you into meditation now?”, popping one equally blue eye open, Justin glanced at his best friend, who merely stared right back at him, several questions visible on his face.  
“I am trying to figure out what to do with this room.”, Hanovers prefect answered him in a calm and collected voice, a finger tapping the rule book in front of him.  
“And there you thought sitting in it and staying quiet until the idea came to you was a good idea.”, if Charlie sounded slightly concerned about his sanity, Justin didn't acknowledge it, instead closing his eyes again and leaning his head to the side.

“Sit down.”, he told his best friend, who blinked at him.  
“What?”, usually more used to strange remarks from his own boys, Charlie was still hit with surprise and confusion as the weird order came from his usually sane and smart friend.  
“You heard me, sit down, and be quiet.”, too tired and exhausted to really fight for an explanation, Charlie crosses his arms over his chest and tried one last approach.

“Why?”, he wanted to know, he had only come over because he needed to write more essays to apply for study accompanying internship, and considering that half his house was belting the lyrics to Bohemian Rhapsody on the top of their lungs, he had needed an hour away from them, how could he have known that Justin was knee deep in his own brand of crazy already.  
“Just do it.”. Charlie dared on more look over his shoulder into the corridor, before he stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself, crossing over to his fellow prefect and folding his legs under himself as he sat down.

“Good, now close your eyes and listen.”  
“You are starting to freak me out. Listen to what?”  
“Just listen.”

It took a moment, but Justin could easily see when Charlie caught onto the distressing sound that had driven him crazy for days already.  
“What is that?”, frowning, Charlie patted a hand to the ground, in a similar gesture to what Justin had done the first day he had heard the sound.  
“I don't know, been trying to figure it out for days now.”  
“So, that's why you were gone so often.”, both of them turned quiet again to listen to the quiet ticking sound that came from somewhere in the room, “I thought you emptied the room of anything.”

“We did.”, Justin assured him, “We searched every last possible hiding place until the walls were bare and the carpet was gone. There is no possible way Adam could have hidden anything else in here.”, Charlie nodded and leaned down to place his ear on the ground, “It's not coming from the walls, you can't hear it from the rooms left and right of here.”, it had been a testament to the boys trust in him when Justin had slipped into Dannys and Andys and Roys rooms yesterday, had asked them to be very quiet and they hadn't even looked as if they had had questions.  
“So, it's in the floor.”, Justin nodded, shifting over to a place closer to the window to knock on the wooden floorboards, Charlie watched him for a moment, “You know what I'm just realizing?”  
“That this isn't even the weirdest thing we've had encountered?”, Charlie hummed in agreement and Justin snorted, “I'm more concerned over the fact that this doesn't even come close.”

“Who was in here before Adam?”  
“No idea, it was empty as long as I can remember. Might have to ask Avery.”  
“You do that, I'll get us a crowbar.”, Justin nodded, already pulling out his phone as Charlie got back to his feet and started walking to the door, “Hey there, Brigham, long time no talking.... Oh yeah, we're fine. Listen, there is something I want to ask you, but it might sound a little strange...”, and Charlie closed the door behind himself, smiling at Merril as he passed her by the common room door, this was definitely break from routine he looked forward to.

An hour later, Derek was not only convinced that Marcus was way too good at these ego shooter games, but he also got the surprise of a lifetime, when Julian asked to join their game fifteen minutes in and when Logan casually strolled into the common room after him and sat down in the armchair next to the couch they were occupying, a notebook in hand and Marcus several dozen post it notes. Derek chuckled, when Marcus shifted in slight discomfort upon seeing their prefect frowning over his notes, it had Julian rolling his eyes in return, while he started up his character.

“That overgrown piece of grass with bushes is a herb garden?”, Julian broke out laughing, still hitting Dereks character dead on, which had the athlete scowling at the screen, while Marcus calmly turned his head to look towards Logan. Green eyes met his, paper and notes all over his lap, ink on his hands.  
“Yes, it's a herb garden. Why it's there, I don`t know, just as much as I don`t know if we should keep it, but I was told to list everything, so I did.”  
“You know, if Windsor has someone this detailed with their list of impending improvements, they won't get it done until Houstons children see their grandkids graduate.”, all other three boys laughed, “Now, I think we need to call in a house meeting, when I'm done with this, see if anyone thinks we need to keep a herb garden. Or a flower bed.”

The house meeting was called in not even an hour later, and even though the confusion about certain points that Marcus listed was not only high in Logans own mind, it was still fairly easy to divide them for shores.

“I need volunteers to tear out those bushes or whatever is growing behind the house.”, Logan got the last point on his list, the weirdest one at that, too, and a small group of freshmen and two sophomores raised their hands, relieved Logan walked over to them and gave them a piece of paper, so they could write down their names, “Great. Daniel?”, halting in his speech, Logan raised an eyebrow, when a Senior Stuart student raised his hand, some other boys halted where they had already stood up to start their assigned tasks.  
“It's good to have you back.”, Julian smiled at his side, and Logan inclined his head to the older boy, even though he was certainly more moved by it than he let them see. It felt good to have control and some amount of power back. 

And it was certainly good that he didn't realize just how much power he really had.

Half an hour later, the boys had divided themselves into little groups, bursting with energy and ideas, talking with laughter in their voices and eyes glowing with zest for action. It was inspiring, and Logan found himself staring at the boys for a moment once he had given out the last tasks, before he walked over to Marcus and Derek squabbling in the kitchen.   
“One might think you are the new romance.”, he chuckled, when he sat down at the kitchen table, where both boys whipped up their heads upon hearing his voice, “You are fighting like an old married couple.”

“You never saw him after he lost a game, or did you? The first time I crushed him in COD, I was convinced that some demon had taken over him and was going to kill me.”, Logan started laughing, and Derek couldn`t decide whether or not to be grateful for that cheering up gesture or insulted upon that casually thrown in comment.  
“Just how much does he know of the things that went down in the last two and a half years.”, Julian surprised them from the doorway, where he raised an eyebrow in question, when Derek looked his way.

“He doesn't know everything.”  
“He knows Julians coffee order down to a peek in the middle of the freaking night, D. I'm sorry if you don`t understand why we don`t believe you.”, Marcus shuffled from one feet to another in the background, clearly uncomfortable with the direction the conversation had taken on, he had always been content with staying in the background, outside of the drama to give Derek a chance to escape from time to time. Logan sensed his unease, “Nobody is judging you, Marcus. Let's get that straight. I'm relieved Derek had someone to keep him sane, I'm just curious on how much I can take for granted concerning things you might or might not know about.”, Derek snapped for air, but Marcus pushed a cup of coffee into his hands and smiled at his prefect.  
“I basically know everything.”

“When did this start?”, Julian questioned, waving a hand between both boys, while he sat down next to Logan, they looked surprisingly calm and relaxed considering that they had just learned that a boy they had previously not called friend knew all their secrets.  
“If I remember correctly the day before Logan and Anderson started dating. Derek was on a roll.”

Flashback  
Marcus sleepily blinked open his eyes and caught sight of the red numbers staring back at him from his nightstand, the clock read five minutes to two in the morning, but that had apparently not stopped the other boy from storming into his room in the dead of night. Pulling up a hand to wipe the sleep from his eyes, Marcus shifted until he was sitting up in his bed, and Derek Seigerson took it as an invitation to start talking.

“What is he thinking? How can he be so stupid and dumb and idiotic?”, his fellow sophomore Stuart flung himself onto the chair in the corner of the room, pushing both hands through his hair, contrary to him, the athletic boy was still halfway wearing the uniform, pants wrinkled, shirt pulled out of them, top three buttons unbuttoned, “Why the fuck did I think becoming best friends with them was such a good idea? Running over burning wood is easier than keeping them under control.”, by then brown hair had been pushed and pulled into every direction and Marcus had twisted his legs from the blanket, just in time for brown eyes to fall onto his face.

“Alright, from the beginning. What the fuck is going on?”, they hadn't exchanged more than three sentences since Marcus had changed to Stuart House a week ago, but still, it felt strangely familiar and comfortable to have the other boy ranting in his room in the dead of night.  
“Logan is going after the new Windsor boy, declared him interesting.”, switching on another lamp in his room, Marcus reached for a water bottle and took a sip, while Derek patiently waited for him to speak.

“Okay, I think I need a little more than that. Take the couch, it's more comfortable.”, and he leaned back against the wall, tugging his blanket around him as Derek moves to slouch down on the couch, kicking off his shoes, and it would only be the first of many many nightly visits.  
End

“Wow, D, you're a creep.”, almost choking on his coffee, Derek turned his upper body to glare at Julian, where the actor had sat down upon the counter, legs dangling over the edge, a cunning grin blooming on his face, from the corner of his eye Derek could see that Logan and Marcus were trying to hide their amusement in their own cups.  
“Are you serious right now? You didn't learn to knock or wait until we were halfway through sophomore year.”, Logan snorted upon that memory, while Julian frowned at both of them.

“Marcus hadn't even been in Stuart for a week, D, let alone taken the oath.”, the actor cut back with victory in his voice as Dereks mouth flapped open in protest, but Logan chose that moment to voice his own thoughts, green eyes set on his boyfriends face.  
“That reminds me of something, Jules. You still owe us that oath yourself!”, Marcus blinked in surprise as Derek started grinning upon the flabbergasted look in sepia eyes.  
“Who is the creep now?”, he couldn't stop himself from speaking out, gladly accepting the elbow that Logan pushed against his rips and the sneer on Julians face.  
“Shut up, Derek.”, and Marcus and Logan started laughing.

 

After the third night without any good sleep, Logan had all but stolen himself away from Dereks mothering, more or less forced Julian to spend some time with Kurt and Reed as both boys tried to figure out how many of Reeds painting had been lost, it was mundane work, just what Julian needed to distract himself with. But Kurt and Reed weren't as oblivious as he had maybe hoped them to be, for as they searched through the stuff the boys had previously saved from the ruins of the Art Hall, both Windsors kept on exchanging looks behind the actors back. And it was Kurt who kicked Reed towards him after five minutes of awkward silence between them, Reed glared at him for a moment and then stalked to where Julian was sitting on the ground in a corner of Reeds and Kurts room, three boxes around him, searching through a fourth one.

“I wanted to thank you again, Julian. You really didn`t need to help, I'm sure there are more important things for you to do.”, Reed stuttered as Julian looked up, tired brown eyes looking at him in confusion, behind Reeds back Kurt rolled his eyes.  
“Well, until now we haven't really found anything to save so... I didn`t really do anything.”, Julian mentioned back at him, causing Reed to turn red.  
“Well, I...”  
“For God's sake, Reed, do you have to everything yourself. Julian, what Reed is trying to start telling you...”, Kurt came walking over, Julians gaze switching to him, “We can use a break, lay down, get some sleep. You look like shit.”, sepia eyes narrowed together, Julians body turned rigid and Kurt braced himself for a snappy actor, but Julian just looked from him to Reed awkwardly shuffling his feet back and forth and sighed. 

Tension draining from his shoulders, Julian deflated into himself, pushing the box from his legs and both hands over his face in the process.  
“Is it that obvious?”, Kurt crooked an eyebrow, Reed avoided his eyes, so the actor knew it had to be worse, he had reluctantly gone when Logan had begged him for some hours to think in peace, some hours to be alone, he knew the nightmares were getting worse, that Logan wanted to figure it out alone before he talked with them, but it was driving him crazy not being to help, “I guess it would do him some good if I get some sleep, makes it easier to stay awake later.”, he could quickly see that it had not been what Kurt and Reed had expected to hear, both faces turned towards him in surprise, eyes wide.  
“He?”, Kurt voices out loud, while he was already leaning down to pull Julian to his feet, so he could push the actor to one of their beds, Julian was too tired to protest and too aware of the divas own temper to go against him without a good nights sleep.

“Listen, I don`t really think he wants me to talk about this...”, he tried to evade the imminent conversation, “He is struggling with it as it is, he doesn't need everyone to cuddle him up now.”  
“Why don`t we call `he` just Logan and be good with it.”, pushing one more time onto Julians shoulder, Kurt stepped back when the actor finally sat down on his bed, “We don`t need to talk about, we get it. Now, sleep. Reed and I can search this through ourselves.”, Julian rolled his eyes upon the dramatics, but when Kurt stepped back into the chaos of half burned paintings and black paintbrushes and turned around again to make another comment, Julian had laid down and was already out cold.

“That was fast.”, Reed commented as he grabbed a blanket from his bed and held it out for Kurt to take, the taller boy stepping back over to his bed and throwing the duvet over Julian.  
“Let's just hope the twins keep quiet and that Drew and Saturo don't blow anything up, I don't think those are the sounds Julian wants to wake up to now.”, Reed send a small smile his way before leaning down again and trying to clean more ashes off his paintings.

On the east coast, Colin Brightman was more or less staring at the man who had been one of his closest friends for almost 20 years, but at the moment he was left wondering what had possessed him, because this was not John. This clearly was not John. Ernest wasn`t faring any better, staring with unmoving eyes to the paper on his hands, his mouth clapped open and shut every now and then. The blond man sitting across from them behind his office desk had leaned back in silent patience, he looked as relaxed as he hadn`t for weeks, determined and convinced.  
“John...”, it sounded as if Ernest had to force himself to speak his friends name out loud, “If you go through with this, if you truly and honestly go through with this, it can very well ruin everything you have built up.”

“I know that.”, he sounded so careless that Ernest shut up again, paper still held tight in his hands, he turned to Colin and waved at him to say something.  
“Do you stand behind this?”, Colin broke himself from his silent stand, narrowing his eyes at the senator, leaning forward on his chair, “Because this will change everything. And I am not talking about your career. When he sees this, hears of it, he will have to make a choice, and I can`t guarantee you it will be the one you are looking for.”

“I have to try. There is nothing left for me but try. No word I say to him will reach him, not until I truly show him that things have changed, not until he knows that this is his father speaking with him, not the politician.”, and it was what Colin had wanted to hear, the fear of losing his only child, it was present in every single blink of Johns eyes, in every word he said, it was risky, his plan, his idea, but Colin had never seen him this determined, never this convinced that he will succeed. He only had one way out of the corner he had backed himself into, and he finally had found the courage he needed, he had finally understood that there was only one way to make things right.

Go big or don`t go at all.

So Colin straightened his shoulders and held Johns eyes, when green ones caught his, “I'm behind you. Everything you do, no matter what happens, I have your back.”, and simultaneously, they turned to face Ernest, who blinked back at them, before he cleared his throat, a small smirk curling his lips upwards.  
“Well, I've been waiting for this day for years now. Colin is right, there is no way we can predict on how Logan will react, but it's a risk we have to take. If you want your sons trust back, we have to convince him his father is standing 100% behind him. And just like Colin said, I have your back, I always had it.”, John breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at them, and for a second he looked like the eighteen year old boy again, back in high school, before life had slowly turned him into a man with a broken heart and too many fears, a man who had locked his emotions away after too much betrayal and pain.

“Alright, there are some calls we have to make now. I`ll take the press, you two make sure this office is prepared.”  
“Why are you taking control suddenly? This was my idea!”  
“I always take control. Haven't you learned that already?”  
“Okay, before the two of you start bickering like little girls again, why don`t we agree that Colin is probably more prone to charm the press, and you need to call Michelle anyway. If we do this, we will do it right.”

Some hours later back in Dalton, oblivious to what the political bomb would soon drop upon them, Logan had sought out refuge in the gym, he had thrown over his fencing gear and had practiced his steps for over an hour already. It kept his mind occupied, but also happily blank, just what he need to get his emotions under control again. And it was like this that Blaine found him around lunchtime, having went into the gym to look for Wes and David who had stolen themselves away from Charlie and duty calls, he had frozen in the doorway when he had caught sight of Logan with the fencing sword. He had been so busy in the last days that he hadn`t seen the blond since the campfire night, and he was hesitant when he closed the door behind himself. Everyone had heard of the rumors of screams in the night, of nightmares keeping the Stuart Trio from sleeping, but before he could make up his mind to flee or stay, green eyes had found him across the hall and Logan had stopped his movements.

“What do you want?”, bracing himself against the force that was Logans temper, Blaine took another step forward.  
“I was looking for Wes and David. Logan, are...”, but the blond boy didn't let him finish, snorting in obvious disinterest, green eyes glared at him.  
“If you ask if I am alright, you will have something protruding from your backside very soon.”, pushing the visor down, Logan raised the sword and concentrated again.  
“Can't say I'm scared right now, especially not of you. So, what's up, what's wrong?”, he dodged the sword that was thrown his way with an easy side-step, bending down to pick it up with quick fingers, Logan had wrenched down his helmet, “Do you seriously want to go back to this? I thought we had passed this in the hospital.”, half of him had no actual idea of what the hell he was doing, he knew Logan was on edge, but apparently his twisted sense of fairness and morality had decided to kick him even more.

Green eyes were narrowed upon him, only tiny angry slits showing a hint of color, and if steam could have risen from the prefects ears, the gym would have turned steamy within seconds.  
“I get it, okay? You are angry, you feel helpless, but sometimes there is nothing we can do even if every part of our body and heart is screaming to help them. I get it, okay? I get the anger and the exhaustion, I want to help you.”, he stopped as Logan blinked at him, with every spoken word green eyes had looked more and more confused, until they were staring at him in unhidden befuddlement.  
“What?”

“The nightmares, the screaming?”, Blaine tried to help his sleep deprived mind, “I understand that you want to be there for Julian, but if you crash under the pressure and lack of sleep, no one gets any help or comfort in the end.”, Logan had furrowed his brows and taken some steps over to him, but Blaine held his ground, he knew the blond boy too good to realize his emotional state by watching his movements alone, and this Logan was more confused than angry.  
“They think Julian is the one screaming?”, then it was Blaines turn to furrow his brows in confusion, Logan had gotten close enough so he could take back the fencing sword.  
“Yes. I don't know who said something first, but the whole school knows that there is screaming in the night from the end of your corridor, and we all...”  
“Assumed it was Julian, of course you did. Might actually explain why even my own house is walking on eggshells around him. Well, you can tell your friends to spread the news that it is not Julian who is screaming in the night. And quite frankly,...”, the annoyance was back, “Tell them that it is none of their fucking business.”, and with those words more or less spat in his direction, Logan stalked over to his bag, sheathed the sword and threw his bag over one shoulder.

“Logan, look, I'm sorry...”, but he got rudely waved off as Logan walked by him, and Blaine was left wondering just who was having the nightmares then, he had tried to stay clear of the gossip in the last days, but of course his mind had also directly jumped to the actor as the rumors had reached Windsor, but now... Was it Derek? He hadn't seen a lot of the third part of the Stuart trio since Logan and Julian had come back to Dalton, but then again, he had never really seen much of Derek ever since he had left the football team, the varsity captain was always busy with academics or his sports, or he was running behind another skirt, or cleaning up his best friends mess. Had he cracked? 

His mind was deep in thought as he walked back to Windsor, seemingly having forgotten to look for Wes and David, and if Charlie hadn't pulled him to the side in the common room, he would have walked straight into a nerf gun battle between the twins and his returned friends. As it was, Charlie pushed him to a couch and down upon it, not even taking his own eyes from the book in his hands, his phone balanced between his shoulder and neck as he tried to explain something to Hope.

But the usual chaos in Windsor was interrupted when Hans voice buzzed through the intercom, he still needed three attempts to get them to silence, in the end being successful with a loud shrilling whistle that had Charlie drop his book upon his foot.  
“What the fuck! HAN!”  
“I'm sorry, but nobody was listening!”, their Caterpillar excused himself over the speakers, Charlie glared into the closest camera, “I'm really sorry, Chaz.”  
“What do you want, Westwood?”  
“I have some news... maybe of the disturbing kind.”, Charlie and Blaine exchanged a look, Windsors prefect already moving to where he usually stored the megaphone.

“HOUSE MEETING! EVERYONE INTO THE COMMON ROOM!”, it took them all about two minutes to scuffle into the common room, Blaine pulled Wes and David to him onto the couch as they came closer, over the distance and up on the stairwell, he caught Kurts eyes as Windsors resident diva stopped by the railing with Reed and surprisingly Julian in tow, the actor leaning heavily on his crutches.  
“Alright, Han, get out with it.”, there was some hesitation to be heard over the speakers but then Han cleared his throat.  
“Senator Wright has called in a press conference, it is set to be held in his office in fifteen minutes.”, at least seventy percent of the boys turned their eyes to the lonely Stuart in the room, whose brown eyes were narrowed onto a spot on the floor, “The disturbing part in it is...”  
“What, Han?”, Blaine called out, thinking of the haunted and exhausted look in Logans eyes only minutes earlier, this was bound to get ugly.  
“He fired half his staff in a public announcement five minutes ago.”, instant murmuring and whispers started among the group of boys, on the stairs Julian was already pushing his way through the stunned boys, twins coming to help him.

“Han, get a live feat onto the TV here. I want to hear every single word of that press conference. Julian!”, the actor turned his head around where he had already made it to the door, “You tell him he is not alone in this.”, the Stuart Junior nodded before vanished through the door, Ethan and Evan halted in their steps and shot a look to their prefect, Charlie waved his hand for them to follow him.

Over in Stuart, news had spread just as quick and when Julian finally arrived in the anteroom with both Brightmans on his heels, he was greeted by Marcus pushing him onto the armchair in the corner, the only sign of his friends was Dereks raised voice in his room and the shuffling of fabric from his own shared room with Logan.  
"Dereks leaving messages on his fathers voice mail. Logan just got out of the shower when Bailey came running.", shooting a quick glance to the twins, Marcus chose to stay quiet about their presence in order to walk over to Dereks door, where another curse was yelled into a phone, and he slipped into the room without knocking, closing the door behind himself, Ethan turned to Julian and raised an eyebrow as the yelling immediately stopped.  
"Don't bother asking.", he wouldn't, because Logan chose that moment to come out of their room, hair still halfway wet, stopping short when he caught sight of blond hair on Julian left, "Just don't ask and be happy they are here. Do you know what that...", he waved his hand towards the TV, running on a news station with cameras pointed towards a podium in an office hall that Logan knew quite too good, "is all about?"

"No. No, I don't know, and I won't even start pretending it is not driving me crazy.", not even slightly bothered by the Windsors presence in their sanctuary, Logan walked over to Julian and dropped down onto the ground by his feet, leaning back against his knees, pushing a hand over his face as his eyes quickly swept over the TV, "What is he planning?"  
"Dad didn't mention anything.", Evan mumbled, strangely pensive as he sat down on Logans right, his brother following his example.  
"Derek talked to him yesterday, not a word about anything.", all four of them looked up when Marcus raised voice got through the door, and then more silence reigned, "What is going on in his mind?"

Neither Julian, nor the twins knew how to answer him, and they were left in more or less comfortable silence until Derek and Marcus returned, both of them a little too tense for their raised voices to have been part of an innocent squabble, but Logan and Julian were too focused on the TV to get curious. Both boys sat down on the couch in the corner of the room and then they waited, just like almost every boy and girl in Dalton.

Another fifteen minutes passed, but just like the quiet murmuring between Derek and Marcus, the whispers and talking in the senators office hall in New York stopped immediately as the cameras caught John stepping onto the podium, his wife following him in a beautiful blue skirt and a white jacket, and then Ernest and Colin joined them, standing on either side of the blond woman, who looked a little intimidated.

John on the other hand looked determined, relaxed, if maybe a little tired, but the convinced and set expression on his face easily won out over the dark bags under his eyes. Derek shifted nervously on the couch as the silence stretched on while John talked to someone from his staff off mic, and it looked almost hilarious to the two Windsors when two hands quickly reached out to restrain his slightly shaking knees. Marcus patted, Julian squeezed and John started to talk.

"I know that there have been a lot of rumors flying around about an incident revolving about Dalton Academy in the past weeks, and I want to make clear that I won't answer any questions or comment on anything involving my son or his school today.", Logan raised both eyebrows, the other five boys stared at him for a moment, well... that was an interesting start, "I have called in this press conference knowing that previous actions today surely brought up many questions, so let me say that it is true that I fired 103 people from my staff today. I fired those previously trusted men and women because they don't support my beliefs anymore."

Logan blinked. Julian stared. Derek gaped. 

And Marcus, Ethan and Evan turned very quiet.

"I have been a coward in the last years, believing that I had found the easy way out of responsibility and what would have been the right way to do. I hurt a lot of people, but none more than my own family, and I am taking this moment to apologize."

And Dalton stopped moving.

"To apologize to my wife and my father for not listening sooner. To apologize to my friends for pushing their thoughts and voices away from me. And above all, I want to take this chance to apologize to my son for letting him down in the moment he needed me the most. Logan, I am sorry for what I did to you, and even more so for what I didn't do for you.", Derek and Julian turned to look at their blond friend, color drained from his face, hands shaking in his lap, Ethan was typing on his phone after it had buzzed not a second ago, "I will change that. I stop being a coward right now, I will accept who you are and I will stand for what you believe in."

"Oh my god.", Julian gasped, dropping to the ground to clutch onto Logans hands, "Lo..."

"Oh my lord, he...", Derek and Marcus stared at each other in utter shock, even the twins were completely speechless for once.

"Blaine, Blaine, he....", Kurt could only stutter, along with the rest of Windsor house, he was stunned, frozen on his place on the ground, staring with wide eyes to the TV, Blaine shifted until he was directly behind him, pushing both arms around him from behind.

"Justin..."  
"I heard it, Merril, I heard it.", Justin hurried to reassure her, grabbing her hand from where he had sat down on the couch next to her, Danny and Spencer on the ground before them.

"Case, did you hear that? Oh my god, does he truly mean...", but Casey barely heard what Sara and Nadja were screaming into her ears, her eyes set on the phone in her hands and her throughts straining to the group of boys in the white house over in Dalton. Was Logan okay?

"If it goes after me and if I still have the peoples trust in the fall, then New York will get the change it deserved for very long already. We are living in the 21st century and even though we claim to reside in a modern country, we are still faced with discrimination left and right. And I will no longer stand for the injustice in this state. I will fight for my son to have to same rights as any other child in this country. The right to marry the person he loves, no matter if it is deemed traditional or not.", John Wright slammed his fist down on the lectern, and though it barely made a sound over the TV, almost every boy and girl in Dalton and Dobry jumped.

In New York, the small curious crowd that had pushed themselves into the office hall was cheering and screaming, the noise quickly catching over to the people on the streets, and behind the senator, Colin and Ernest exchanged a look over a stunned Michelles head. They could only hope now that Logan did not take it the wrong way. John had been vague enough people would still have questions, but it had been their intention, he would be the political topic in the next days, the attention was safe. But more important was that Logan understood the meaning of it, and did not see it as some kind of political gamechanger, with his public second hand coming out as the winning move.

"The same rights, same possibilities, same chances for everyone. Don't subject yourself to your gender or sexuality! We are all people! We are all New Yorkers, and we better start fighting for our brothers, sisters, sons and daughters right now!", the cheering in New York got so loud that Derek actually tuned down the volume a little, his hand moving on autopilot while his eyes still stared at the determined man on the TV. It was not what he had expected, but maybe it had been the right move, "Thank you.", and even though so many people started yelling questions, John smiled into the round and left the podium with one arm around his wifes waist.

The TV cut back to the news reporter who looked just as surprised as they did, stuttering a little in the beginning while she tried to repeat the senators message in short for her audience. Derek turned it off when the topic changed, and then silence reigned for some seconds, broken only when Logan frowned down at his fingers and Julian licked his lips.  
"You're okay, Lo?"

"I'm... yeah... yeah, I'm okay.", he cleared his throat and pushed a hand over his face before he turned to face Derek, knowing that his friend would only believe him when his face told him what his voice already did. Derek held his gaze for a moment and then nodded.  
"I'm going to call my Dad.", and Derek almost jumped from the couch and hurried into his room, Marcus looked behind him for a moment and then back to Logan.  
"I can see in your face what you want to do, and I'll keep him busy for some minutes. Just... talk to him I guess.", grateful for the opportunity, Logan nodded and then watched how Marcus followed Derek into the athletes room.

"We`re going to go back, see if we can reach Dad and get some more information out of him.", Julian nodded at both twins as the Windsors rose themselves and left the room.  
"Can you pinch me?", Logan turned to question him as they were left alone in the anteroom, Julian smiled and leaned down to press their foreheads together, he was still shocked himself, he had never expected John to make a 1-80 that drastic, but he surely welcomed it with open arms.  
"It's not a dream, Lo.", pushing himself from the chair, Julian reached for his crutches with one hand and held the other out as Logan stood up himself, "Now, come on, I think your fingers are already itching to have a phone in your hand."

Stepping into their room, Julian closed the door behind himself and then walked over to his bed, falling down upon it while Logan was still walking over to his desk, where the black phone had been placed upon a history book some hours ago. He knew what was going on inside his boyfriends head, after so many years of knowing him the way he did, inside out, he could clearly see every single emotion mixed into the tumult in Logans head and heart.

The shock, the surprise, the unbelieving longing for hope, the gratefulness, but it was the pushing need for answers that overruled it all, and it took him to do something he hadn't thought himself able to in the last days. Logan picked up his phone and scrolled down to his fathers name.  
Call me when…  
Halfway into typing his short message, Logan deleted it all and as Julian still raised his eyebrows in confusion and question, he swiped his finger over the display and pressed call.  
"Hello, Dad.", and Julian almost jumped from the bed, only catching himself in the last minute, his hands already going for the crutches as Logan shot him a defined look and walked straight into the bathroom, locking the door behind himself. This was long overdue, this was his decision and nobody had a right to stop him anymore.  
"Logan...", John slipped away from Colins unwavering stare, closing the door of his office behind himself and locking the door, just like his son had done it seconds ago, leaning back against the door, the senator closed green eyes as the rope around his throat tightened.  
"I don't have much time, Marcus can't keep Derek occupied forever and if he realizes I went behind his back I'm going to get an earful, but I needed to talk to you.", Logan could hear his heart beating in his ears, hammering against his chest, his voice dared to crack the slightest bit, but he managed to catch himself again, there was silence on the other end of the line, but for the first time it didn't feel like the accusing one, not the angry pause his father used to push back only harder, this was the comfortable one, "I... I don't know if admiring is the right word, but what you just did was more than I ever wanted, Dad. You didn't need to go so far."  
"I did.", John interrupted his son, pushing a hand over his face, he walked over to his desk and sat down on the chair, the fingers of his free hand instantly reached for the picture frame next to his laptop. Green eyes were laughing, toothgrap showing in a bright grinning smile. The picture was over ten years old, back from a time when things had still been easier, shot in a time where Logan had still believed him to be a superhero, "I needed to, Logan. For myself, but even more for you."  
"I'm grateful. I really am. And... we need to talk, just us, just... you and me.", his words were joined by a frantic knocking on his door, halting his fathers answer and Logan glared at the offending wall of wood, "That'll be Derek."  
"I want nothing more than to talk to you. Let Derek come at me first and then...", and it was the turn of his door receiving some hard knocks, "That'll probably be Simon or Colin, I have to go I fear. I'll text you and we'll find time to talk. I promise you. Bye."  
"Thanks, Dad. Bye.", and he ended the call and leaned his head back against the door, behind which someone groaled, "Derek, get yourself together."  
"I'm not the one who locked himself in the bathroom, Lo."  
"I make my own choices, D.", Logan snarled right back, but on the inside his heart was beating with joy, and when his phone buzzed and his grandfathers picture appeared on the small screen with a short message, Logan even smiled.  
Seems there are still some brain cells left in that big head of his.   
And while Logan reluctantly got up and faced Derek with his ridiculous annoyance, John hung up the phone and called for the person he suspected to be Colin to come in. It wasn't Colin, it wasn't his friend at all, instead he got face to face with his old mentor from college days, and Michael Simmons didn't look proud or happy to see him again, not one bit.  
"Michael, to what do owe this pleasure?", they hadn't spoken in years, and John was aware how fake his cheery greeting sounded, a mail here and there, but Michael hadn't shown any interest in his career since John had been elected into the senators seat for the first time.   
So he was more than surprised to see the old man, who had already worked with his father, step into his office, the walking cane clicking on the floor like a clock of doom.  
"It is neither a pleasure visit, nor is it the time for praise. I am here to demand an answer on why you think that pulling New York City down with yourself is in any way a good idea."  
Scoffing upon the casually hidden insult, John crossed his arms over his chest once he had gotten to his feet, he towered over Michael, was easily two heads taller, but still, the grey haired man looked down on him with hardened and cold brown eyes.  
"So you have come to treat me as a child again."  
"I have come because you have clearly lost your mind. I don't know what went on in your family life and I honestly don't care. I have taught you long ago that personal matters stay private and don't belong into your career. You are here to handle New Yorks interests and not your own.", John snorted, it sounded so hilarious that he really couldn't keep it in, he had been an idiot for so long, listening to man like him.  
"I am representing New Yorks interests. This city has long been ready for equal rights.", Michael opened his mouth to say something, probably protest, but John didn't respect him as much anymore as he used to, and so he cut right over him, "You have to see that this country is changing. And New York is always the picture of modernity and equality, of fairness and chances, of endless possibilities, of dreams come true, but this time? We are already late for the train."  
"You are taking risks that will cost you your career.", John almost laughed, it was just too perfect and rule book being played out for him, he had thought Michael to be more cunning than that.  
"Yes, I am, because this city needs me to."  
"This city or your son?"  
"You leave Logan out of this.", he walked around his desk and crossed the room over to Michael, green eyes glaring at him with all their menacing power, "You don't have children, and you never understood the first thing about them. You made me think that politics came first, always first before everything else, that it was suppose to be my families honor to fall into step with me. Well, I can only say that I am relieved that someone got brave enough to show me the truth before it was too late. I lost my first wife because of you, nearly lost my friends because of your stupid morals. I almost lost my only child, Michael, and I don't care anymore what you think is the right thing to do. Father first, politician second, that is what New York needs right now.", and John pushed past Michael to open the door even further, "And now I will nicely ask you to leave my office, I have friends and my wife waiting for me."  
"Are you honestly taking this risk? Of losing it all and ruining your career? You could have made it big, boy. Now? Not everyone will like the changes in your campaign.", hence the reason he fired almost his entire staff, John grumbled to himself as he closed his office door and locked it behind himself, before he turned around and looked at his old mentor again, face set in stone, green eyes ice cold.  
"I'm a politician, taking risks came with the career description. And I'm a father, taking risks has never been easier.", and green eyes coldly stared back at the angry face of an old friend and John knew then he had lost maybe one vote for sure, but he had gained the chance to have his child back, and the difference it made, he wasn't even able to put it into words.  
"Don't expect my support.", Michael snarled at him, behind his back Colin and Ernest rounded the corner and both stopped upon seeing them in their tense positions, John smiled, the little cuttingly saccharine sweet winners smile that his son had so much in common with him without him knowing.  
"I won't."

That night though, the smile was wiped off his face again, because with all that emotional roller-coaster in his heart and soul, it was only to be expected that the vicious nightmares returned with even more horror.

He couldn`t move, he couldn`t move his legs or his arms, he couldn`t even so much as flex his little finger, he was paralyzed, while the flames licked higher and higher around him.  
“Tell me how it feels.”, that smug voice whispered in his ear, green eyes flashed to the left, but without being able to turn his head around, he couldn`t see the other boys face, but he didn`t need to. He would recognize that patch of poorly dyed blond hair everywhere, would recognize his taunting smiles, the fanatic look in his eyes everywhere, “Tell me how it feels, to have him love you, to know that he wants to be yours.”, green eyes flickered over to the unconscious boy in the middle of the burning room, the top floor of the Art Hall. Oak brown hair was flecked with black ash, where the actor was laying on a table, flat on his back, eyes closed and his lips just barely open, his chest was almost not moving at all.

Fingers crept over his back, his arms, his chest, he was everywhere, behind him, all around him, smiling at him, caressing his cheek, “How does it feel to know that I will take him away. That I will take everything away.”, he couldn`t speak, his lips were dry, sewed together by invisible forces as his tormenter slowly moved towards Julian, stroking through brown hair. He wanted to scream, wanted to yell, wanted to push him away, throw him into the flames, but it was useless, he was frozen, tied to where he was still standing in the middle of the room, “He is mine. And he`ll always be mine.”, Adam was back at his side within the blink of an eye, and in his hands he held a gleaming silver knife, the blade was mirroring the flames, “You`re not worth it, to be loved, to be loved by him.”, and the knife plunged through his abdomen, over and over again, and the pain paralyzed him all over again, the fire, it was inside him now, it was shooting up his chest. 

Without knowing how or even feeling it, he had dropped to the ground, Adam had disappeared, exchanged by a face he hadn`t seen in over a decade, speaking in a voice he hadn`t heard in over thirteen years, “Nobody will ever love you, boy. No one will ever truly care. You`ll always be a pawn in daddies little games.”, his mothers sharp features glowered down at him, brown eyes cutting through him, like the bloody knife in her manicured hands, which she was slowly pushing over his chest, “You`re a monster.”, the fire seemed to explode, flames shooting up even higher and green eyes could do nothing but stare as more people stepped from the shadows, laughing, cruel evil laughter rippling through their chests, eyes glaring down at him, while Cordelia still knelt by his side, “You`re better off dead!”, and a wall of hot blinding flames crashed over Julians body, at the same time that Cordelia raised the knife and plunged it into his heart.

Logan awoke with a blood coiling scream that ripped through his chest, green eyes flying open, arms shooting out, knocking Derek and Julian to the ground, when the blond boy scrambled to his feet and stumbled over to the bathroom, reaching the toilet just in time. He threw up what little he had gotten down the previous day, and when it was all out, and every last muscle in his body was screaming with pain, he just dropped to the ground, Derek catching him before his head could have hit the tiles. In his ringing ears, he could somehow hear the toilet being flushed, but he kept his eyes closed, everything was still spinning out of control. Tears were streaming down his face, and for once he had no energy left to fight against them, his whole body was still shaking with terror, his heart not believing that he was safe again.

Logan didn`t really react, when Derek gently lowered his head to the ground once Julian had tossed a towel to him to cushion Logans head on the cold bathroom tiles. They were both scared beyond imagination, feeling so helpless, so tired themselves, but also so awake. Kneeling down on either side of their friend, stroking through strands of blond hair, over shaking and shivering arms, they waited until Logan got out of the after flashes of the nightmare, the most cruel to this point. Julian couldn`t even pretend that Logans frantic screams of his name didn`t get to him, so when green eyes finally blinked open again, he leaned down and carefully pushed their foreheads against each other.  
“It's over, Lo. It's okay, you`re back with us.”, waiting for his words to register with the other boy, Julian placed a small kiss on Logans forehead, he had to try and be strong for him, he had to give something back, had to show him that he wasn`t alone. Derek silently let them have their moment, standing up and walking back into the room.  
“Don't leave me alone.”, Logan croaked out, Julian quickly shushed him, let his fingers stroke over the other boys cheek, wiped some tears away.  
“I'm not going anywhere.”, he promised him, just as Derek returned with a bottle of water, kneeling down behind his friend, he helped Julian to pull Logan upright again.

“Come on, drink something, it'll make the taste better.”, Julian couldn`t even begin to grasp how thankful he was for Dereks calm, he could never even out the gratitude he felt, not even three months after having spent each night with him after the Valentines day drama, here he was again, forgetting his own needs to make sure one of them was alright. But the calm and coolness Derek projected towards them wasn`t shared on the inside, Derek had to fight with all the energy he had left to push the panic to the back of his head, he could deal with that later, could deal with it in the morning. Now Logan mattered more, especially when he weakly pushed the bottle of water away, when Derek held it out for him, “It's just water, Logan, you'll keep it down.”, not having much to protest with, Logan accepted the water on a second try and took a first hesitant sip, “You got him?”, when Julian nodded, pulling Logan further against his chest, Derek stood back up.

“What are you doing?”, the actor asked him, when Derek stepped over to the bathtub that Logan had instead of a normal shower, the luxuries of a prefects room, but now it came quite in handy. Starting up the warm water, he turned back to the brunet boy.  
“He is soaked, cold as fuck, he needs to warm up and this is the quickest way I can come up with. And also laugh all you want, but baths are known to relax, and I need to take the pain away from him.”, but Julian would never even think about laughing about it, “Now help him strip to his shorts, we don`t need to make this more awkward than it needs to be.”, Julian still reached up to take the bottle of water from Logans still shaking hands, and then proceeded to help him out of his shirt, as Derek closed the door of the bathroom and pulled his own shirt over his head.

It didn`t take them long to have Logan sitting in the bathtub, knees drawn to his chest, one arm pulled around them, one hand clutching onto Julians hand to keep himself anchored, but the warmth of the water sought into his skin and muscles, soothing his tormented body. And when Derek soaked a towel in the hot water, before placing it over Logans shoulders and back, the blond boy let out a deep sigh. Giving in to his bodies need for peace, he let his legs slide under the water and leaned his head back against the edge of the tub, and when Derek sat down next to Julian, both of them with bare chests, Logan turned his eyes to them.  
“I saw my mother...”, and said the exact one thing they would have never expected to hear from him, staring with unmoving wide eyes at him, Julian was completely frozen, while Derek sat back on his heels, “It was Adam first.”, and Julian flinched back to life, squeezing Logans hand, “And I was back in the fire, and I couldn't move. And Adam was there, and you were unconscious.”

It was the first time Logan openly and without prompting talked about his nightmare, but both of them could easily see and feel that this one had been the worst until now. Logan had been so far gone into the terror of his dreams that even Derek yelling his name hadn't reached him, hadn't even given them any kind of reaction at all, his body had continued to twitch and flinch until he had jolted awake with a scream that Julian would never forget.  
“You were laying on some kind of altar, and I was frozen to the ground some feet from you.”, his green eyes were focused on Julian, who tried to swallow down the fear, tried to blink away his own memories of burning walls. Dereks hand came to rest on the small of his back and it brought Julian the comfort he needed so much, he wasn't strong, not until Logan was strong again.

“Adam kept on teasing me, touching me.”, from the corner of his eye Julian could see Derek frowning while Logan stared at their connected hands, “He was laughing, so excited to finally have you where he wanted you... He stabbed me.”, Julian flinched again, clutching onto Logans hand even tighter as the blond boy pressed his other hand over his stomach, “I dropped to the ground and then he was gone. Replaced by Cordelia.”, it was a touchy subject, as much as they had had their arguments about the senator in the past, had fought over different opinions about him, there had never been any moment where Julian and Derek had not understood and supported Logans anger towards his biological mother. John Wrights first wife was usually a causa non grada, and as much as Julian knew Logan hadn't thought about her in a long time.

“What did she say, Lo?”, Logan furrowed his brows as he looked up at Derek, his mind trying to remember the actual words, Julian himself knew how hard it sometimes was to remember the actual insults and taunts behind the terror and horror. Logan had stopped shaking and trembling, but he was still terrified.  
“She told me that nobody loved me.”, Julian was already moving, ready to protest when he saw the pain in green eyes, but Dereks hand pressed some fingertips against his spine in a silent warning, it needed to get out, so the actor chose instead to squeeze Logans hand again, “She told me that nobody needed me and that I would always be a pawn in my fathers games. She called me a monster, and said that I was better off dead... and then she raised the knife and plunged it into my heart.”, his free hand moved to place itself upon his heart in the water, clutching at the skin to make sure it was still unbroken.

None of them knew what to say.

And it wasn't until they had Logan dry and in new clothes, sitting on his bed with Julian at his side, snuggled together under a blanket and soft music playing in the background that the shaking finally stopped, and Derek allowed himself to leave them alone for some minutes to get them some coffee. He knew there was no way Logan would even attempt to get more sleep this night, so the best thing they could do was talk and distract him.

When he saw the lights on in the kitchen, and heard the coffee maker rattling in the background, it wasn't hard to make a guess on who it could be, Marcus had the room right next to the stairs leading up to the anteroom, if anyone would have been able to hear the screams once again, it was him, so when he stepped into the kitchen and instantly found blue eyes looking back at him, Derek wasn`t surprised. 

But he was indeed surprised about the sudden flash of emotions crashing over him, the sudden crack in his mind when the panic bubble burst and it all came flooding back at him, and before he knew what was happening, he was on his knees in the middle of the kitchen, hands pressed over his ears, while Marcus held onto him and let him scream into his shoulder.

Derek didn`t know how long it continued, time seemed to float into nothing, while he clung to Marcus, the frustration screaming from his soul, his tired body just giving up for this one moment, but it was just one flash over overwhelming helplessness. And when it was over, all rushed from his heart and mind, he sat back on his heels, wiping both hands over his face, Marcus didn`t say one single word. He got silently back to his feet, and reached out a hand so he could pull Derek to his own.

More days past, the weekend came and with it, the first quiet night, and when Julian opened his eyes on Saturday morning after having slept undisturbed for eight hours, he felt himself caught in a dream, quickly checking to see if Logan was even still in the room.

But the blond boy was sleeping right next to him, peaceful, only the dark shadows under his eyes a witness to his troubled nights the days before. They stood up around lunchtime and actually made plans to spend the weekend away from Dalton, wanting to go see a movie, and it was almost strange to bicker about date plans when only three nights ago, Logan had screamed bloody murder as Julian had touched his face during a nightmare.

And with Marcus not only keeping Derek occupied but also locked in his room until the other boy had caught some more sleep and got some actual skin color back, Logan and Julian slipped from Stuart as the evening rolled around and spend it at a restaurant in Columbus, finally finding some time alone.

On Monday, Derek did not also look more like himself again, but also lessons started back up, and for the first time the majority of the boys, and even more surprising especially the Stuart trio, found themselves eager for daily schedules and homework worries. It was also the first time that any non Stuart students aside from Blaine saw Logan again.

Justin startled a bit, when he closed the door of the prefects private meeting room behind himself and something shifted on the couch, but when he turned around and found green eyes blinking sleepily back at him, he took a deep calming breath. And he also felt bad, with Stuarts prefect laying on the big couch in the far back corner of the room, shoes on the ground next to him, blazer thrown over the back of a close chair, and the way he was slowly sitting up, pushing a hand through his hair, it wasn`t hard to guess that he had been asleep.  
“I'm sorry, I didn`t want to wake up, I just...”

“Needed to get away for a while? Why do you think I'm here?”, pushing a hand over his face to get the sleep from his system, Logan watched as Justin walked over to him and pulled up a chair so he could sit down, he knew what was coming, before Justin had even opened his mouth, “I'm not okay, I'm not fine, and no matter how surprising this confession may be, there is nothing good in pretending everything is alright.”, and the concern flickered into blue eyes, and Logan sighed, “Derek and Julian know where I am, I just need some time to think.”

“And sleep apparently. Does Julian have nightmares? Is he keeping you awake at night?”  
“He...”, and Logan hesitated, he had always trusted Justin, looked up to him somehow, maybe it would do him some good to talk to someone else, “Julian is not the one who has the nightmares, it's me.”, Justin didn`t say anything for a long minute, just looked at the bags under Logans eyes, before he reached down into the bag he had dropped upon sitting down, and he pulled out a book, “You`re not asking questions...”, Justin smiled upon the confused tone of his voice, blue eyes looking back at him.

“I would want answers. Answers you don`t even know yourself right now. Get some sleep, Logan. You know where I am if you want to talk to me, and when you think it could help, I will listen.”, getting back to his feet, Justin walked over to the armchair in the corner next to the couch, Logan let himself fall back onto the couch. Some minutes passed in silence, Justin flipping around in his physics book, while Logan had closed his eyes and kept on waiting for sleep to overtake him again, but when it didn`t come, his tongue worked on its own again.

“Do you ever lose hope that your father might someday understand you?”, halting in turning over the pages of his book, Justin slowly looked up to find green eyes staring at the white washed ceiling of the prefects room. It was their place, their private room, where they could escape from the madness of their houses, it wasn`t unusual to find each other during free periods, nose stuck in their homework, but it was also the place the other students knew to look first if they ever needed one of their prefects during the school day. Various things were always laying around, there was always at least one book Logan had forgotten to take back to Stuart, a jersey or sweatshirt from time to time, some things Charlie had taken away from Dwight, the twins or Drew and Saturo on numerous occasions. It was their heaven, their sacred place.

So it was only understanding that Logan would take this place to reach out to him, but the question still caught Justin off guard, he had suspected that the senator hadn`t been in contact with his son since the fiasco in Orion Hall, but considering that Derek had barely been around to talk to, he had never gotten proof. And he really had no idea how to answer the question, not really wanting to bring up his own father again, one talk with Charlie per month was really enough on that matter.  
“I've given up a long time ago, Logan, but my situation is different from yours. Your father loves you, he just doesn't know how to show it. All my father ever saw in me was an heir, was someone he could give the title, and his business to without needing to look for someone who wanted it. I know you`re worried he is going to give up, I can see it in your face.”, Justin looked away, when Logan closed his eyes, “But he won't. You know why my father wanted to close the school, what his motivation was? He didn`t want Daltons sudden bad reputation being mirrored back to him, he was only worried for his name, your father was worried about you, all he wanted was for you to be safe, and he had to know that the only way you would come back to New York with him was to take away the one thing that kept you here. Take away your home.”, when he looked up again, Logans breath had evened out and he was deeply asleep again.

Chuckling a little bit, he put his book aside for a moment and pulled up the blanket that rested next to the couch, standing up, he pulled it over Stuarts troubled prefect, before he sat down again and got back to reading. Sometimes, responsibility had to wait. Not soon after he had drifted off into physics basics again, the door to the corridor slowly opened and Charlie pushed Blaine into the room, Justin quickly shushed them before they could have disturbed Logan from his well needed sleep. Both Windsors quickly found them in the far back of the room and staid quiet, Charlie carefully closing the door behind himself, before he pulled Blaine over to where he had placed a box at the beginning of the year, it contained the confiscated items from his Windsor raiding. Taking out a bag of salt, he gave it to Blaine.  
“Now, give it to him, but if he so much as throws that stuff into anyone’s face again today, he'll have to deal with me, make that crystal clear to him.”, yelled in a whisper, he had Blaine nodding to him, before the Warbler turned to leave again, but not without throwing another slightly worried look to Logan.

When he was gone again, Charlie pushed a hand over his face and dropped onto the closest chair, when he caught Justins raised eyebrow, he waved all questions away, and Justin didn`t ask, it was usually better to not wanting to know what craziness the Windsors had gotten themselves into again, better for his own sanity, and for Charlies anyway. Instead he sighed, when Charlie nodded towards Logan still passed out on the couch.  
“I don`t think it's my place to tell, but I think he just needs some sleep.”, Charlie nodded, understanding, pulling out his own homework.

“Probably up all night comforting Larson, I don`t even want to imagine how bad those nightmares must be.”, Justin gnawed on his lips for a second, but it was a second too long, because Charlie caught the hesitation in his face, and with two raised eyebrows, he demanded an answer, Justin sighed, threw a look to the younger boy on the couch, before he responded.  
“It's not Julian who has the nightmares.”, blue eyes switched over to the Stuart again, whose pale features were illuminated in the afternoon sun, but Charlie kept quiet, didn`t comment, didn`t ask any further.

An hour later, Riley had joined their little round, choosing to hide away in order to keep his thought straight and in line, the day student leader and newly appointed Lancaster prefect had entered the room at a point, where Charlie had lost the fight against sleep, his head dropped onto the books at the big table in the center of the room, and where Justin was drowsing behind his history notes, Stuarts equal still dead asleep on the couch. Smiling slightly to himself, he set himself into another corner and focused on his half finished calculus homework. Their teachers were still going easy on them, it wasn`t the same stress level as before, you could feel them walking on eggshells around the majority of them, but it didn`t mean it would be a piece of cake. He hadn`t even read himself into the topic again, before it knocked twice on the door and Julian stuck his head inside, nodding quickly to him upon spotting him first, and then smiling so gently when he laid eyes on his boyfriend. 

Quietly closing the door behind himself, Julian crossed the distance to the couch, Riley looked down into his notes again, when the actor leaned closer to Logan.  
“Lo?”, green eyes blinked slowly open and needed a moment to focus on where he was, “I'm sorry but lunch is always over, we need to go to Murdochs class.”, pushing a hand over his face, Logan sat up and welcomed the kiss Julian gave him.  
“It's okay, how long was I out?”, he was too adorable when he was this sleepy, Julian concluded, grinning at the drowsiness in his boyfriends green eyes.

“It's almost two. You slept all the time?”, Logan gave a vague nod, “Three hours of sleep. It's good.”, inside he was screaming with joy, alone the fact that Amos and Justin were both either asleep or close to falling asleep told him enough, Logan has slept peacefully, there was no way either prefect would have even closed one eye if Logan had suffered from the nightmares again.  
“Don't let D hear it.”, slipping into his shoes again and straightening up his tie, Logan reached for his blazer and kicked out a foot against the chair Justin was slowly napping away in, the Hanover jolted awake and let his eyes roam around the room shortly before his eyes fell upon the two Stuarts.

“Lunch break is almost over. You need to go to practice in fifteen minutes.”, it was another prefect quirk, in order to have each others back you were almost doomed to know the other ones schedules, Justin groaned, pushed his books into his bag again and threw a pencil towards his best friend, Charlie startled awake.  
“Classes, Chaz.”

Later that day, Justin and Logan crosses path once again, when the younger boy stepped back into the prefects room after Derek had gone to soccer practice and Julian had decided to grace the drama club with his presence after all, a fact which still left Logan wondering who would complain to him sooner, his boyfriend or the entirety of the drama club.

He found his Hanover equal sitting in the armchair in the corner again, furrowed brows over tired blue eyes which stared out of the window and didn't acknowledge to having heard him at all until the door clicked shut behind him. Logan nodded to him as he went over to the other armchair, picking up the algebra book he had previously left behind.

Classes were over for the day and he had only fled his own house for some peace because the sophomores had riled up the freshmen, and he was way too pissed off by both of them to even think about intervening, let them deal with it on their own, so he had gone back to the prefects meeting room, fully intending to finish his homework.

They spent some time in silence, Justin staring at his hands in deep thought, while Logan read through the last chapter again.  
“It's weird, you know.”, it was Justin who broke the quiet some minutes later, frowning down at his hands as Logan glanced up over the rim of his book, “How tired you can be when you feel so awake at night. And how no one would suspect a single thing if it wasn't showing on your face. And how no one dares to approach you about it afraid you are going to be angry.”, Logan frowned at the numbers in his book and then lowered it into his lap.

"Who are you talking about? You or me?", Logan glanced over to the older boy, eyebrows furrowed just a little bit.  
"Me.", Justin answered and looked back up, the worry lines fading a little from his face and his lips curled into a soft smile.  
"Why can't you sleep?", Logan wanted to know, sitting up more straight and turning his full attention to the other prefect.  
"You wouldn't believe me even if I told you.", was the quick reply from the Hanover, prompting Logan to raise an eyebrow, somehow he doubted that.

The call comes on Thursday afternoon when Logan is alone in his room, more or less avoiding to look at the physics books on his bed. The house was silent and he had been searching for his missing iPod for at least half an hour, when his laptop rang with an incoming Skype call.

And when he turned to look at the desktop, he froze when his fathers face looked back at him, still only a picture Julian had downloaded over a year ago and then beautified with a flower crown to use as an icon for the senator in Logans Skype contacts.

Trembling fingers reached out to accept the call and then he waited for the call to connect and the screen to load his fathers living and breathing face, he was sitting at the desk in his office, New York already a little bit darker than the Ohio sky outside of Logans own window.  
“Hello, Logan.”

“Hey, Dad.”, and the small smile on his fathers face put him at ease, and somehow Logan was even relieved that Julian and Derek were not around to put in their own comments, it was how he had wanted it to happen, just him and John. Just father and son finally talking.  
“Do you have time?”, sending another glance to the thick and old physics books, Logan nodded, maybe even a little too eager.  
“Yeah, as much as we need.”

"Okay, just please sit down and listen to what I have to say. I know I haven`t earned this right and I would fully understand if you find thousand other things that you would prefer doing right now, so I am begging you to listen to me.", and that did it, Logan plugged down in the chair in front of his desk, eyebrows raised and green eyes staring into his fathers face, because he sounded sincere, because for once he truly meant his words. John was biting his lips, waiting, patiently waiting for him to make his decision, giving him a chance to make a decision, Logan was absolutely stunned.  
"Alright, I`m listening.", he offered, leaning back in his chair, hands twisting together, just out of the cameras view, he didn`t want his father to see how nervous this was making him, how much hope it rose in him again.

"Are you sure I`m really not interrupting anything or holding you up?", he needed a second to realize that his father really wanted his undivided attention, that he really cared for this conversation, this meant a whole lot to him.  
"Yes, I`m positive. The house is quiet, Derek is at practice and Julian is annoying the drama club.", his father chuckled and Logan almost dropped from his chair, this was getting more weird and surreal with every passing minute.  
"Good. Now, before I start, I want you to know that there is always a way out, at any time. The second it gets too much you tell me to stop!", it was an order, but a well meant one, his father was actually worried that whatever he wanted to discuss would hit the wrong places, he was worried about it and not excited. And with a complete startled realization Logan swallowed down the heavy lump in his throat, his father cared. He wanted to apologize.  
"I get it, Dad.", it was just a test, he couldn`t help but stay cautious, but the small tenderly spoken three letter word evoked something in the older man, Logan could easily see the relief flitting over his fathers face. 

"Okay...", he took a pause, probably getting his wits together one last time, "There is so much I want to say, so I am starting with this. I am sorry, Logan, so incredibly sorry for the father I have been for you, or better say for the lack of a father I have been. For everything I have ever said to hurt you, for everything I have ever done to put stone walls into your way.", Logan absolutely didn`t know what to say or to think, it was everything he had ever hoped for, John pushed a hand over his face, dragging his features down for a moment, he looked older, "I`ve been the worst father the world has probably ever seen. And I needed a freaking fire, my only son being trapped inside a collapsing building and falling into a coma after confronting me to open up my eyes. I am sorry, and I wanna apologize for everything, even knowing that if you can ever forgive me we will need a lot of time to ever have the relationship that we should have had.", the regret was written all over his face, the dark bags under his eyes not only added from the webcam, he made a pause, Logan could almost hear his alarm clock clicking away. 

"I am your father, and I should have been there for you, at any time, I shouldn`t have hidden you in some school to protect you, I should have protected you myself, I should have stood up for you. Not against you. It should have been me standing against all those people making your life hell, instead of you needing to stand up against your own father. You are my son, my only child, even with Michelle in the picture it has always been just us, and I never appreciated it, I always took you for granted, even when you were younger. And when you came out to me, I was afraid of what would happen to you, what this world would make of you. I let my own insecurities get in the way and became a bitter monster, someone who pushed his own son away in the moment he needed him the most. I love you, I always loved you, and I know it`s hard to believe.", another pause, Logan swallowed against the heavy lump in his throat again. 

"When those anger issues took over, I thought that this is Gods way of telling me that it was too late, that I had lost my son, that I should just give up. And damn, I was stupid, I was an idiot, and if I could go back in time, I would take you out of that joke of a school instead of sending you to therapy. It was wrong, I should have seen how much you have been bullied. I was a coward, I didn`t want anyone to see how much I had failed you... When Dalton happened, I dared to breathe a little, I thought that this school would catch you like it did with me, I looked the other way. I wanted to believe that you were old enough to not need a father anymore."

"I always needed you.", Logan felt himself break out of the mute shell, John smiled at him, and it sent a warm shimmer through his whole body.  
"I know, Logan. I know and it breaks my heart even more knowing that you always blamed yourself for everything, I`m so sorry. That attack on that exboyfriend last year, I should have seen that as the sign it really was. A cry for help, and I`m so incredibly happy and relieved that Bradley fought to get you back, that Julian exploded..."  
"What?", John stopped upon his confused outburst, he had known that Derek had talked his fathers head off whenever he had had the time to call, but he hadn`t known that Julian had done something, too. That was new.

"You didn`t know? Julian called me some weeks into the new school year, told me that you needed me, that I should get my act together and come to the winter festival. He can be very persistent. I came, looking back I don`t know why, I was still much too angry at myself and once again I let you be my victim. Those fucking pills, it is another thing that stops, I am not going to sit and look how my son is drugging himself whenever he so much as gets a little stressed. It`s over with those, we are going to talk to real specialists, real therapists, who know exactly what they are doing, no more pills unless no other way is possible. I don`t want anyone having the chance to take you out by exchanging some lousy little pills again.", and they had approached the sensitive point, John took a deep breath. 

"You have no idea how I felt when that building went up into flames, and Ernest told me that you were inside, gone to protect your friends. I was terrified, terrified that I lost you before I could make things right again. And my fright let me do things that I am not proud of, not even close, seeing you this hopeless, it destroyed me. I couldn`t look anymore, I knew that as long as Dalton was still in your life, I would never get a chance to get my son back. To get a chance to get my real son back, the one who truly was Logan Wright, not the picture I had wanted him to be in the past. So I convinced them to close the school, it wasn`t hard, everybody was frightened and shocked, but something happened. You fought back. For the first time in your life, you refused to be the victim, you fought back against me, showed me what you were really capable of. And if my own pride hadn`t been so hurt, I would have surely opened my eyes a lot sooner. You fought for your friends, for the place you called your home, you fought for Julian. And when you crashed, I stopped thinking, I couldn`t believe I lost you again, at the point where we had been so close, without any of us really realizing. I sat in that chair for hours, saw you giving up, slowly fading away. I have to thank Derek, if he hadn`t screamed at me and shoed my ass from that hospital, I would have never found my marbles again. Michelle was furious, couldn`t stop screaming at me. And then Derek called again, told me you were awake and coming back to Dalton and I have never been so relieved, to know that you were alright, at least physically. And before you make any comments, I know everything that has happened since then, I know you were having troubles, with sleep, headaches, I know you dropped out of the Warblers for now. Derek keeps sending updates, without my asking, so don`t blame him for anything. He is just looking out for you. We will get this right, my boy, we`ll fix this again.", Logan managed a small smile, the tears in his eyes making it difficult to really focus on his fathers face, this was way more than he could have ever hoped for.

"I can only hope you will be able to give me a second chance. I know it`s late, I know I missed most of your important years, but if you do, I will promise I will try to make it up to you. No matter if you are straight or gay, if you are purple or a penguin, you are my son. And I will fight for you now, I will stop thinking of only me now. Until we have resolved your issues, until you feel really happy again, you are my sole responsibility, you are my sole priority. New York may need his senator, but my son needs his father and nothing is more important. ", Logan knew he was crying, but for once he didn`t think about hiding it, didn`t want to appear always strong and unbreakable, "Are you okay, son?", John leaned closer to the screen, face worried, but Logan smiled, wiping some tears away.

"I`m okay, Dad. I`m really okay, it`s just a whole lot of relief. And before you say anything else... I have waited so long for this, I have never given up hope that this day would come, and you never needed to ask for that second chance, I will always give you one... You are my father, and nothing will ever change that. I messed up enough on my own, I was blind enough for the last three years on my own. We make mistakes, and everybody deserves a second chance when he is ready to open his eyes for the truth, I`ve learned enough of that in the last months. I have definitely not always been the best son, so if you are still believing in me, there will always be hope for me... I love you, Dad, and you`re already forgiven."

"I love you, too, Logan.", and it was so amazing to hear those words, spoken with sincerity, spoken with a kind heart, with love, "So, I have a proposition for you. I wanna know what is going on in your life, I wanna be a part of it again, from you, not from Derek. If you are okay with it, I want us to talk more, definitely more.", and it was an agreement over regular phone calls, over mails being written every other day, and Logan was happily smiling by the time, his father asked about his day.  
"Well, the usual madness. I think things have gotten back to how it has been before, Windsors and Stuarts are still at each others throats, but it feels good, it is normalcy, and I really appreciate that on top of everything right now. It`s all tuned down, the heavy armor is back inside the basements, but good natured banter never hurt anyone, at least seriously. And it`s not like we started this war.", he shot in afterwards, making his father laugh and point a finger at him in the little screen.

"Don´t accuse me, boy, that has been going on long before I even set one foot into Dalton. Windsor has always been a bundle of nutheads, and Stuart is too proud to stand back. Hanover is still Switzerland, right?", John was lost in his own memories for a moment, Logan could already see the sun settling down in the shadows behind his fathers back.  
"Always been, always will be. Justin is leading them with an iron fist, staying clear of all trouble."  
"Bancroft, right? He is a good boy, very straight forward. They have taken you under their wing, you seemed to have learned a lot from them, but I interrupted you, go on. Your day."

"Well, I think you chose a very boring day. Classes haven`t been that interesting, and I didn`t even need to stop any food fights. Brightmans had been very easy today, which is usually a very bad thing and I should probably check for any hidden pranks around the house later.", his father raised his eyebrows and Logan laughed, "You get used to it with the time. When you called I was going over some sheet mucis, even while I should have probably written down my final report on my lab project.", he bit his lip, glancing to the unopen textbook.  
"Simmons still giving you the boring unappealing dry heaved assignments?"

"Yeah, learn nothing, get bored in the process and find even freshmen homework problems more interesting. I probably would get ready for fencing right now, if Blaine wouldn`t still be incapacitated because of his shoulder. Doing it alone is not actually helping anyone.", his father asked more about details and he was in the middle of another rant about Simmons boring to hell classes, when the door opened behind him, indicating that Julian had come back, everyone else would knock.  
"Am I interrupting something?", the actor asked, silently closing the door behind himself, stopping when he caught sight of the senators face on Logans desktop, his boyfriend smiling back at him, eyes just a little tear stained.

"No, of course not, Julian. I need to go anyway, Michelle is probably already waiting at home. You two enjoy the weekend, and I`ll call you Monday, Logan. Bye."  
"Bye, Dad.", Logan ended the Skype call, and when he turned around again, he was faced with a very curious boyfriend, pushing his chair around, he begged Julian closer, pulling him onto his lap, arms sneaking around the actors waist, just as Julian wound his arms around his neck.  
"He apologized.", Logan whispered when he nuzzled their noses together, green eyes closing again, while brown ones staid on his face in slight confusion.  
"For what?", he was probably still too focused on those annoying drama kids to really comprehend the situation, so Logan pulled back a little and smiled at Julian.

"For everything... Everything he has ever done and said, for every stone he has ever placed in my path.", sepia eyes widened in wonder, while Logan choked up again, fresh tears slipping from green eyes, Julians fingers quickly reaching up to catch every single one, "He is sorry, so sorry. And we talked for almost two hours, about everything that has ever happened, and I just know he means it. I could see it, the guilt, the pain, he really regrets everything... Jules, he said... that he is so very proud of me, of me being strong...", a small sob racked through the blond prefect, Julian was smiling down at him, his own eyes a little misty, while Logan was openly crying, so happy, just so happy, he moved his hands to cradle his boyfriends face. 

"Proud of me being patient, for never giving up hope. And that he knows it will take time, but he wants to be a better father, he wants me to be proud of him.", Logan sobbed in another breath, green eyes swimming with water as he looked up at his boyfriend, "He told me he loved me. He said he loved me. I haven`t heard those words from him since before Mum left us.", Julian leaned their foreheads together, "And I told him I loved him, too, that I had never stopped believing in him, and he looked so happy... We are going to work this out, we`re going to be a family again. I can feel it now.", and the floodgates broke, Logan pushed his face into the crook of Julians neck, while the actor pushed his arms around his shoulders, holding him tight, a big grin stretched over his face.

It was how Derek found them some minutes later, frozen in the doorframe, one hand still raised to knock, brown eyes completely dumbfounded, when Julian found him with his eyes, he nodded him inside. Derek stepped into the room and closed the door behind himself, face mixed between confusion and slight worry.  
"Is everything alright?", his voice whispered into the room, making Logan sit up straight again, hastily trying to wipe the tears away.  
"Yeah, yeah, everything is alright. More than alright.", the look in those green eyes told the athlete that they would talk about it later, but one look into Julians beaming face told him enough somehow, that it wasn`t bad, that Logan wasn`t crying because something bad had happened again, but because something good had finally come along the way.  
"So, just allergies?"  
"Just allergies.", Logan approved of his words, sending him a quick smile, "You wanna go to dinner now?"

Once they were in the dinner hall, Derek turned to face Logan with an amused expression on his face, stopping before the line to the food court.

"I know John called, you know?", Logan faltered in his steps for a moment, but then he smiled and nodded, happy, at peace with the world, and Derek never wanted that look to leave those green eyes, especially when Julian peaked out behind Logan and grinned at him, sepia brows completely euphoric, "He sent me a text this morning, asking me how you were doing and if it would be a good day to talk."

"What did you say, the day is sunny, Logan is in impeccable mood and nobody has tried to mess with Stuart until now, so why not call later...", Julian laughed, as the trio made their way further into the dining hall, where the actor made his way over to where Marcus had already reserved a table for them by the windows, while Logan and Derek turned right to get something for them to eat, "I`m happy for you."

"Thanks, D... It feels surreal, but so good. He really is trying to make a change. I truly believe that talking regularly with him will be a good start.", Derek patted Logans shoulder, before he took his own tray and both of them walked over to Julian and Marcus.

 

There was absolutely nothing wrong with his day, he had woken up with Julian basically draped all around him, Derek had pushed coffee into his hands, before he had even fully stepped down from the stairs, and he had gotten back two perfect papers, everything had been so great, until fate decided that this moment had to change that, two o`clock in the afternoon, sitting with his laptop in Daltons cafeteria, waiting for Julian to come back from European History and Derek to drag his sorry ass back from the soccer field. Writing the first two abstracts of the English essay, that was due next Monday, he was in a splendid mood, until a pair of navy blue high heels clicked over the ground and right in his direction, glancing up from his notes, Logans eyes slowly draped over neatly shaved and toned legs, slightly tanned, with that small scar on the right knee, over a grey pencil skirt, manicured fingernails and the blazer of Dobrys school uniform.  
"Well, the ice queen found her way back into the castle. Hello, Casey.", the girl with the brown hair, pulled up into a strict ponytail, rolled her eyes in fondness, throwing her bag over the back of the chair that she pulled from the table across from Logan. Stuarts prefect leaned back in his and took a sip from the coffee mug.  
"Hello, Logan. You got a minute? There is something I would like to talk to you about.", Casey Lambert raised an eyebrow, when Logan blinked at her, not quite used to politeness from her anymore, being too impatient, the girl snatched her fingers forward and stole the prefects coffee, earning herself a scowl, but at least that was usual behavior.  
"Something, or someone?", Casey smirked, her fingernails tapping a slow rhythm on the coffee mug, while Logan put his pen away and curled his own lips into a winning grin, well, this is got to be interesting.  
He keeps the tears hidden until the night has bathed the roof of Windsor House in utter darkness, but then, when no one was around and he was dangling his feet over the edge in the silence of the night, only then he would allow himself to cry.  
And he would sit and listen to the distant howls of wildlife in the woods surrounding the Academy, and sometimes when the wind picked up his hair and let black strands float around his face, it would almost feel as though he was flying.  
Flying to freedom. Free.  
Free of the pain in his heart. Free of the whispers in the dark corners of the corridors. Free of the gossip and the rumors. Free of the taunting.  
Just free.  
Dwight had been called many things and names in his young life and just as much as he had heard them, he had heard not to listen to them. They don't know you, his uncle had always told him, those kids are not your friends. He wasn't stupid, he knew what people thought of him and he had never really cared about it, until the very people he had thought to be his friends had looked at him with betrayal and accusations in their eyes.  
He wasn't stupid, or slow, least of all was he deaf, he knew the Windsors were talking about him behind his back and sometimes even when they were sure he would hear them.  
Murderer.  
And he would swallow it down until the night claimed Todd for sleep, until the twins retired to their rooms, and until Charlie made his last round, but then he would walk upon the roof and sit down on the edge, looking across the grounds over to Stuart, the only house where at least one window was always illuminated by light.  
And Dwight would stop pretending to be alright, the sobs breaking free from his chest while he thought back to Logans words and wondered what he would think about all of it if he knew.  
Murderer.  
Taking in the post on his first free weekend since the press conference, John would walk back into the dining room, where Michelle was humming while she brought coffee and pancakes from the kitchen.  
Sitting down in his chair, he glanced over the newspaper and shook his head about the headlines, pushing it away for later as nothing caught his interest, and taking his attention back to the envelopes in his hands.   
Two were addressed to his wife and he handed them over to her as she sat down beside him, clicking her tongue as she saw her mothers handwriting. John himself poured himself a coffee, his eyes scanning over the neatly written address on the simple white envelope he held in his hands still, addressed to him, full name.  
There was no return address and he hesitated for a moment before using his still unused knife to open it. In the envelope was a single white piece of paper, and he had to unfold it twice to see what was written on it in a very familiar handwriting.  
I am finally proud to call you my son again.  
In Hanover House, Justin and Charlie had made half an effort to write more pages for their English essays, but had quickly refused to write another sentence after the smell of the kitchen and Merrils quiet humming had drifted over into the common room.  
"I think I'm getting paranoid.", Charlie mumbled as he checked his phone for the sixth time since coming over two hours ago, "I keep waiting for something to happen, but they just behave... and...", and he furrowed his brows and grimaced, "And I don't even know if I want them to behave. Sure it's okay and nice to have some quiet for once, to not step into any booby traps left and right on your way to brush your teeth, but with them, behaving usually means they are plotting. And I seriously don't want to know what three weeks of plotting will bring us in the end.", grimacing himself upon the thought of what the twins were trying to achieve behind their backs, Justin patted his friends knee and reached for his own phone as it buzzed.  
Awaiting an answer from Sidney about their planned trip to the movies on the weekend, he swiped his thumb over the display and froze, a spasm almost shooting through his body and getting him the attention of Charlie, Spencer and Danny.  
"J?"  
I'm going to be at Dalton tomorrow afternoon at the latest. We are going to talk and you are going to listen.


	7. Quick Author's Note

Yeah, not a chapter. These chapters are the so far existing ones of this fic, but at the moment I am focusing more on A Game of Kings, so it might take a while until the next chapter comes out, but I will never stop working on this fic, I can promise you as much.


	8. Deleted Scenes from the already posted chapters

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I started working on chapter 7 for real now and I thought that as a christmas present, I could just throw out some deleted scenes

Extended Scene:

Logan and Dwight talk at the bonfire:

“You... want me to spray you?”, he questioned the other boy, who nodded without blinking, but Dwight did, looking into those green eyes that looked down at him in patience and curiosity, and when he couldn`t find any sign for ridicule or stupid pranks, he raised an eyebrow, “Why?”, it was probably bordering on questioning the older boy's sanity, but Dwight couldn`t help but get defensive, none of the boys had ever asked him to test for demonic spirits, no one except for Todd, but he was used to much more extreme measures from him now.

“I want to talk to you.”, Logan mentioned casually, “And I want you to be comfortable, which you don`t look right now, so spray me, throw that salt stuff at me. If it sets you at ease, who am I to take it away from you.”, Dwight didn`t hesitate, or at least his body didn`t, his mind was still trying to work through what Logan had said, but his hand was already moving, but Logan only closed his eyes when the salt hit his chest and the water dripped down his face, pushing a hand over it to wipe the rest of the water away, when it was over, “You`re good now?”, Dwight nodded in trance, shifting a little to the side, when Logan sat down next to him.

“What...What do you wanna talk about?”, Dwight was wrecking his brain for an explanation, but he couldn't come up with one reason why Logan Wright of all people wanted to talk to him, they had never had a private conversation before. All their interaction so far had included at least one or two of Logan's shadows and half the bunch of overprotective Windsors.

“I wanna talk about you.”, Logan answered and kept green eyes focused on the dark ones of the hunter, his entire attention focused on the younger boy who visibly shifted in an unknown feeling upon realizing it, “How you are doing, how the others are treating you.”, Dwight could only blink at Stuart's returned prefect with wide eyes, and Logan curled his lips into a smile and chuckled.

“Why?”, it slipped from the Windsor's lips and he glanced to the front for a short moment, glanced over to where Derek, Charlie and Justin were watching them with interested but also confused eyes, but everything his mind came up, nothing made sense, and he needed an answer. Logan wouldn't make fun of him, he knew it, he was different than most of his housemates, he may not understand his ways or support them, but he would never ridicule someone for being different.

But what left Logan's lips in a silent explanation then, shut all voices of doubt in Dwight's head up entirely, and left him dizzy with quickening breaths, “Because you were in there with us. Because you tried to stop Adam. Because I can see in your eyes how much you are blaming yourself for Harvey's death, and in spite of them I am not going to treat you with kid gloves. None of us is a kid anymore, not after that night and you deserve to be treated with respect like anyone else.”

Logan was silent then and let him swallow down his words and wrap his head around their meaning and only when Dwight blinked and shifted his eyes down to where his hands were wringing and twisting themselves around the small bag of salt, only then did the blond boy avert his eyes from the side of his face to look out over the crowd himself for a moment.

“You are not alone, Dwight. None of us are. And I know that sometimes, it takes a little longer to understand, but you don't have to get through this alone. We're all in this together, so let us help you.”, Dwight swallowed heavily against the pressure in his throat and then raised his eyes back to look at Logan's slightly smiling face, he looked so much at ease, it had been such a long time since Dwight had last seen the senator's son like this.

It felt like a lifetime ago.

A lifetime ago when things had looked easier for him as well.

“Logan, I...”, he started and stopped again in the next moment to frown slightly, “Honestly I don't know what to say.”, and a small laugh bubbled out of Logan's chest, and just for a second Dwight thought that it looked like as if the older boy was about to pat his shoulder, Logan's hand twitched but then remained by his side, even though Dwight internally thought that he might have appreciated and welcomed the gesture.

“We have to move on, Dwight. We can't remain in the past forever, and believe me, coming from me, this means a lot.”, Dwight was too stunned to really move or respond, “I know it's not easy. I know that guilt can wear you down quite a lot. Look, we both think we made mistakes that can never be repaired by anything. No matter how much we try, that will always haunt us, but we can't give up. Not now, not ever. The world still has too much to offer.”, they both frowned a little more upon Logan's choice of words, and Dwight would have raised an eyebrow as well if he had had the strength to move, but Logan only shook his head and continued again.

“I`m not saying you should just forget about all of it, Dwight. It happened, we can`t change it back, no matter how much we want to. But we can do one thing for him, we can never forget what he did, for us. Harvey would want us to move on, to live, it`s the sole reason he ran in to save us, so we could live.”, Dwight pushed a hand over his face, while Logan watched him.  
“How can I?”, the younger boy started, the desperation and defeated hopelessness showing on his face, eyes so lost, “How can I move past it, when I see it on all their faces? When I know that even though they don`t say it, they all believe in it. That I am to blame, that Harvey died because of me?”, the hand on his shoulder came so suddenly, the hold so strong, there was nothing Dwight could have done then to look up at the other boy.

“Listen to me, Dwight. It`s not your fault. You didn`t kill him, Harvey did not die because of you, he died saving us. He had a choice, and he chose to die for us. And if anyone ever thinks he has to blame this on you, if anyone ever dares to get under your skin for anything, no matter what it is, you come to me. No thinking, no hesitating, you come straight to me and I will deal with it. I am so sick of people always telling us what we can`t be, what we have to become. We are us, you and me, we are different, and we have to keep together to show them that they can`t push us down. I`m not promising you that I won´t get angry because of what you do, but I can promise you that no one will talk bad about you again. So, any bullying, any bad words, any pointed looks, you tell me. Promise?”, Dwight was stunned for a while, Logan looked so sincere, and with a startled gasp almost, he realized why those green eyes looked so dead serious, he cared. Logan cared about him. 

He nodded, even if a little hesitant, Logan smiled and clapped his shoulder once, before he stood up, “Be strong, don`t lose hope. You`re still needed. I gotta go now.”, he gestured to a tired looking Julian leaning against Derek by the fire, both boys were looking towards them, it was clear they wanted to go back to Stuart to end the night alone, just the three of them.  
“Logan?”, Dwight called after the retreating prefect, waiting until Logan had turned around again, before he continued, “Why are you doing this? I`m not one of you.”  
“I`m looking out for you, because someone else can`t do it anymore, I will try and make him proud. It`s what Harvey would have wanted me to do.”, and Logan gave him one last smile, one Dwight returned without hesitation, before Stuarts prefect nodded and turned back around.

Deleted Scenes:

Number 1: Derek and Marcus talk as they await the New Yorker press conference:

Over in Stuart, news had spread just as quick and when Julian finally arrived in the anteroom with both Brightmans on his heels, he was greeted by Marcus pushing him onto the armchair in the corner, the only sign of his friends was Dereks raised voice in his room and the shuffling of fabric from his own shared room with Logan.  
"Dereks leaving messages on his fathers voice mail. Logan just got out of the shower when Bailey came running.", shooting a quick glance to the twins, Marcus chose to stay quiet about their presence in order to walk over to Dereks door, where another curse was yelled into a phone, and he slipped into the room without knocking, closing the door behind himself, Ethan turned to Julian and raised an eyebrow as the yelling immediately stopped.  
"Don't bother asking."

When Marcus stepped into the bright sunlit dorm room of Stuart's most respected inhabitant, Derek was just pushing books off his desk in frustration while his voice snarled onto the voice mail of his father, at least the dark haired boy hoped that it would be the voice mail.  
“I know you are getting these. I know you, Dad, so pick up your goddamn phone and tell me what is going on in that freaking city!”, another book went flying and Marcus stepped closer to his friend, “Tell me what John is planning!”

He ended the call then and threw his phone onto his bed where it disappeared beneath the pillows, breathing out a heavy sigh Derek turned around to face Marcus who gave him a small smile in return, but it was the brunet boy again who spoke first.  
“What is going on, Marcus? What is he planning?”, Marcus could only shrug his shoulders in response, because he truly had no idea, though it pained him to have no other more uplifting answer because Derek looked a little thrown out of his safety zone again, and Marcus hated the hounded look he got in those times.

“Have you tried the senator's cell?”, Derek nodded and walked over to his bed but remained standing in front of him, Marcus followed him to stay at his side.  
“Of course I did, just like I called Michelle and left my own father five messages. Nothing, no one is picking up their freaking phones.”, he seethed into the room and his hazel eyes sent a wave of pure fire towards Marcus darker ones, the other boy knew though that it wasn't truly meant for him, so he let Derek take a deep breath to get the frustration out of his system.

“What is he doing? What, Marcus, what? How many times have I told him to not overwhelm Logan with big gestures again that he will only doubt? How many times have I proposed to him to start with small gestures, with a message, with a mail, with a frigging phone call?”, he had raised his voice again and Marcus wondered how much the others could hear in the anteroom, and how much this truly was not helpful in calming Logan's already frazzled nerves, but if he told Derek that now, he would only make it worse, so he stayed silent.

“A press conference, Marc. He is doing a press conference. He fired half his stuff, more even. How am I supposed to stay positive in this? How am I supposed to keep the upper hand in this, smile at Logan and tell him that everything will be alright, your father just doesn't fucking get the definition of subtle.”, and he only got going for real, “But then again subtle is not really a trait this family owns, it's as if their blood is repelling it. Oh, you want me to be delicate? How about I flood the Hover Dam with chocolate, subtle enough?”, Marcus bit his lips to keep from smiling, it just looked too endearing how Derek's snarled his horrible senator's impression into the room, “You want me to subtly show my support for my son? Sure, let me just fucking built and name a skyscraper painted in rainbows after him. You want me to tell him that I love him? Of course, look here, I bought FUCKING PARIS FOR HIM!”

"I thought Logan hates Paris?”, Marcus' simple question, spoken in slight bewilderment, prompted Derek to snort aggressively and roll his eyes to the heavens.  
"John hasn't exactly shown much interest in what Logan does and does not hate, OR DID HE?", Derek cut back in glowing sarcasm and Marcus was very close to shoot right back, but instead he found the inner zen status once more and looked his friend straight in the eyes.  
"Jesus Christ, calm down, Rick.", he called out and quickly placed both hands upon Derek's shoulders, “Breathe, Derek.”, and as ordered the brunet boy took a deep breath as Marcus took over their conversation.

„Derek, he is terrified of you.“, hazel eyes looked at Marcus with utter disbelief and confusion mixed into one long stare down until Marcus huffed and elaborated something he had felt to appear obvious, “Don’t you realize it? Since that moment in the hospital the senator must have realized that Logan doesn’t depend on him anymore. He’s got no control over his son anymore, because the only people Logan looks for guidance now are Julian and you. You are literally standing between John Wright and his son, you are holdings the strings and after everything I have learned about this man and his family, that makes you a person to be terrified of.”, Marcus was breathing more heavily by the time he was done with his little tirade.

Derek just plopped down on his bed and blinked at the carpet, so Marcus continued in a calmer voice, “John Wright knows that you could take his son away from him with just a couple of words. All you would need to say is ‘Give up, Logan’ and the senator would have forever lost him.”, Derek snapped his head up in protest, lips forming an answer real fast.

“I would never do that.”, he pointed out and Marcus rolled his eyes, he knew that of course, he wasn't deaf, he had heard Derek's ongoing arguments with the senator over the phone on half a dozen occasions. If it was possible, he wanted that father-son reunion more than both Wright men themselves.

“Does John Wright know that?”, he asked instead, raising both eyebrows shortly at Derek, “You already told me that he underestimated you, Rick, believe me he is scared to lose his son to you. So why would he risk that by playing another stupid game? I have no idea what is going on in New York, but sue me for my belief that it will end up being something good.”  
“You got some hope left for me to take?”, Derek asked with a crooked smile and looked up again, finding grey eyes easily, “Could use some more optimism right now.”

Marcus sighed and sat down next to him, nudging his shoulder against Derek's and getting a slight shove back in return, “If we lose hope, Logan will as well, Derek. I know that you have doubts, but you have to lock them away. It's gonna be okay, it has to be. For him. We have to believe in it, because it's the last thing we can do.”, Marcus knew his words weren't that reassuring or cheering, but they had both been faced with the bitterness of reality so much already, sometimes it just was easier to skip optimism, “You told me days ago that things are in John Wright's hands now, so give him a chance to make it right. You can't keep him away from Logan forever.”

“I can try.”, Derek chuckled and got pushed back onto the bed for his amused comment, but Marcus was shaking his head with a smile on his lips.  
“I'm pretty sure Logan and Julian are not that far off from locking you in a broom closet, Derek, don't play with fire you can't control. I will not stop them.”, the thinner boy stated with a deadpanned tone and Derek snorted, “It's gonna be okay, Derek.”

“Yes.”, Derek sighed and let himself be pulled off the bed and back to his feet again by Marcus, “It's gonna be okay. Who knows...”, he started and finally kicked off his shoes, turning to face Marcus again, “Maybe all John has to say is an apology for being an asshat.”, Marcus snorted and pushed him towards the door again.  
“Dream on, Rick.”, and with a glare directed at him from hazel eyes, Marcus stepped back into the anteroom.

\--

Number 2: Justin and Charlie after the ambulance has taken Logan to the hospital

“Okay, call an ambulance, something is wrong.”, Blaine suddenly yelled, making Derek and the twins fell back down onto their knees next to Logan again, the curly haired Windsor boy was frantically searching Logans unmoving wrist, eyes narrowing together, he hastily rushed his hands to the boys neck, “Ambulance! NOW!!”, Justin scrambled for his phone, while everyone stared, Kurt and Reed dropped to their knees beside him.

“Blaine, what`s going on?”, Kurt almost choked on his words, Derek was already undoing the top buttons of Logans shirt, Blaine tried to swallow down his panic.  
“His pulse is slowing down.”, it was barely a whisper, but the hall was so silent, that it jumped from all four walls, the senator jumped to his feet, but before he could have done anything or even opened his mouth to say something, there was a rush of feet and blazers, and a wall of boys built itself between them and the fathers, shielding Logan from view.

“I think you`ve done enough already.”, it was Marcus Holland speaking out openly for the first time, standing in the middle. Stuart was united again.

When the ambulance is gone with Logan, and John Wright right along with it, Marcus Holland wordlessly reached for Derek's arm, snarled some words towards Cyrus Huntsman and Lawrence Holmes and then pulled the shocked brunet only remaining part of the Stuart Trio from Orion Hall.

And then for a moment utter silence reigned, students and fathers stunned and shocked on equal basis, but then Justin caught Sidney's eyes over a bunch of younger students' heads and they both knew it was over.

Dalton was saved.

No one would dare and do something now.

And they nodded at each other and both turned around to find their closest confidantes, Hope and Charlie were luckily standing together and not too far off from them and Justin was talking before Sidney had even completely walked over to them.  
“We gotta need to reign the crazy in again, bring them away from the parents until we hear news about Logan.”, he said and Charlie's eyes briefly flickered over to Blaine who was still kneeling on the same spot since he had dropped to his knees next to Logan's unmoving body, before Windsor's prefect looked back to his best friend.

“I sure hope nothing bad happened to Wright. He can be a terror, but he's still one of us.”, Hope quietly spoke between them and Charlie soothed a comforting hand down her back, while all their eyes switched over to Cyrus and Lawrence calmly but quickly pushing the Stuarts from the room, until all that was left of the red and white house was Bailey quietly talking with Kurt and Reed, hovering around a pale white Blaine.

“Listen, we'll take our girls and leave. There is enough stuff going on for you, guys, you don't need more people bearing down on you.”, Sydney smiled slightly at both of them, both boys were tired, dark bags under their eyes, blue eyes dull and still helpless, there wasn't even enough energy left to find hope about their school being saved, “It's over, guys, Dalton won't close.”

“What if something happens to Logan? None of us know anything about Larson.”, Justin started as the panic finally settled into his bones and when his hand started shaking, Sydney exchanged a quick look with Charlie and then they pulled Hanover's prefect to a corner of the hall, Hope followed them silently, “If something happens to Logan now, we are done. Dalton is only saved if Logan is okay.”

“Listen, Justin, you saw him yourself, you saw Derek, god only knows when the last time had been that they slept properly. They are under so much stress, it was only a question of time until one of them broke down. He'll be alright. Let's just focus on getting control back now.”, Justin nodded, and even though Charlie could clearly see that he was in fact not okay, he let it rest, they had too much on their plates still to start worrying about themselves.

Dragging both hands down his face, Justin turned to look at his fellow students again, at how the majority of them still looked unsure and terrified, “Yeah, let's just get them back into the houses. Let the Stuarts get some peace.”, Sydney and Hope nodded in understanding. Hope went to kiss and hug Charlie tightly before pulling Justin briefly into her arms as well, Sydney left after thwacking their shoulders twice.

Justin and Charlie parted ways then as well for a while, walked around the hall and talked to the students of their houses, and after a while the girls were gone and the first groups of Hanovers and Windsors were going back to their common rooms as well.

Even the majority of the fathers left, without one of their most outspoken board members around they wouldn't be able to make an official decision anyway, especially after Colin Brightman and Ernest Seigerson left for the hospital as well, faces solemn and worried. Not really a good sign but for now Justin just ignored it for his own sanity's sake as he looked around the hall and found only Spencer and Merril remaining of his own house, and his close friend was talking to his father, while the brunet girl was hovering in the doorway.

Justin waved to her to make it clear that he had it under control and would be on his way with Spencer by his side in some minutes, Merril sent him a small smile and then vanished as well. Aside from Spencer and the General and some other fathers silently talking in another corner of Orion Hall, that left him only with Charlie kneeling beside a slowly better looking Blaine, Wes, David and Kurt standing around them.

Justin quietly walked up to them just as Charlie got back to his feet and pulled Blaine to his own as well, “Now, are you sure you wanna go?”, he asked and didn't let go of Blaine's shoulder even as the younger boy nodded, “Okay, but call the moment you know something or need something. Anything we can do to help, we will give it. And Kurt?”, the boy standing next to his boyfriend looked up to his prefect, “Please have an eye somehow on Ethan and Evan? I know that they are pretending that everything is okay, but Logan is still one of their oldest friends, they really aren't okay.”

“I will, Charlie, I promise.”, Windsor's resident diva nodded and then he left with Blaine, their hands clasped tightly together, Charlie sighed and turned to Wes and David.  
“Find Dwight.”, was the simple order and both boys nodded and then rushed off as well so that only the prefects remained on the left side of the great hall, both of their eyes meeting each other shortly before switching over to Spencer talking with Paxton Willis.

“You okay?”, Justin directed at his closest friend who snorted in answer, “Yeah, me neither.”  
“Let's just get Spencer, find Terry and then pretend just for half an hour that nothing is wrong.”, Charlie begged and this time it was Justin's turn to sigh, he was just so damn tired, “And after all of this is done, I am not going to be available for three days while I sleep like the dead.”, Charlie grumbled as both of them already started walking.  
“You can have the couch in my room.”, Justin offered and then both of them placed a gentle and polite smile upon their exhausted faces as they came to stand on either side of Spencer Willis, “Good Afternoon, Sir.”


End file.
